


Betrayal

by Littleredridinghunter



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Angry Derek, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Stiles, Derek Uses His Words, Derek is a painter, Eternal Sterek, Good Alpha Derek Hale, He gets better, Hurt Stiles Stilinski, Insecure Derek, Insecure Stiles Stilinski, Jealous Derek, Kidnapped Stiles, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, OTP Sterek, Oblivious Stiles, Recovery, Scarred Stiles, Slow Burn, So much angst, Stiles Stilinski Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Stiles is abused, Stiles is quiet, Stiles is such a f'ing BAMF!, Stiles-centric, Tattooed Stiles Stilinski, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Tortured Stiles, Werewolf Sheriff Stilinski, Wolf Derek, blackmail into sexual acts, braeden is a bitch, eventually, famous painter, full shift werewolf, gladiator Stiles, really bad medical descriptions, seriously, seriously slow burn, slowly gets better, so is deaton, so much hurt stiles, so much kidnapped stiles, stiles heals, stiles is more like derek than himself, stiles is ooc, you'll hate it if you want a quick ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 09:19:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 25
Words: 214,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13232736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littleredridinghunter/pseuds/Littleredridinghunter
Summary: Gerard does something despicable and the pack are left shattered after Stiles is killed.... or is he??Set at the end of season 2 because honestly I have a fascination with that episode! Canon compliant up until then but then everything goes a little crazy!Do not read if you don't like Hurt or kidnapped Stiles because there is a lot of it....





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this one kind of took on a mind of it's own, I wanted to just write a short one with this idea but I'm not 100% sure what happened. 
> 
> Anyways, I am aware that the body probably still could be identified in some way but for the purpose of this story it isn't possible to identify it. 
> 
> In later chapters there is sexual abuse and the threat of rape. It goes quite dark for a while but eventually there is a happy ending. If you're willing to stick it out then you will find a happy ending (I'm not going to say you'll be satisfied because I felt it was a good place to end it for now - although I'm already planning a sequel)
> 
> The pack are all tagged but it's mainly Derek and Stiles' point of view, the others are all sort of side characters, they are there and you get their POV occasionally but don't expect it on a regular basis/
> 
> Although the Braeden/Derek relationship is tagged it's Sterek all the way for me!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and I'd love to hear any constructive criticism on where I can improve on my writing.
> 
> Obviously I don't own any of the characters, if I did I think somebody should take them away for their own protection.

The first painting that Derek ever sold was one he’d done just after the fire. He’d always enjoyed sketching and painting, but everything that his parents had saved over the years had been lost to the flames, just like them. There were no pictures left of them, they too had burned to ash. The only images he had of his parents and the rest of his family were his memories and he was terrified of losing them too. 

He thought Laura must have known how he was feeling because less than forty-eight hours after the fire had started, when he was sat in their crappy motel room fighting back the waves of grief and guilt that washed over him, Laura had appeared with a large canvas and several varieties of oils and paints for him to use. She wore a grim expression and was paler than Derek had ever seen her before, but she gave him a faint smile, more of a twitch of her lips than anything else, the sorrow and grief evident in her features. 

“I thought you could paint them.” She muttered, holding the canvas out for him. Derek had wanted to throw the canvas into the corner of the room, kick a foot through it, destroy it, do anything other than sit there helplessly, his family was dead and it was all his fault. “They’re not great paints,” Laura admitted, “We don’t have a lot of money, not yet, but, when the insur…” She paused, taking a heaving sigh and swallowing back her own tears, “When the insurance money comes through we can get you some better stuff.” She was still holding out the canvas and Derek stared at her for another minute, “Please, Derek, I just, I need to remember them too.” Laura pleaded with wide eyes and Derek felt so guilty that he couldn’t refuse her. 

He snatched the canvas from her hands, setting it up in the corner room and began to paint. It took him two days to finish it, he didn’t eat or sleep in that time, barely tearing his eyes from the canvas even when he went to the bathroom, feeling Laura hovering nearby but not looking around at her, he had to get it right, had to get it perfect, for her, it was his fault she’d lost her family, he had to make this perfect. 

He didn’t draw the pack in their human forms, that would be his next one, right now what they needed was a happy moment, he drew the pack in their wolf forms, the sleek red shine to Cora’s coat, the dark mottled grey of his father’s, the pure black of his mother’s, her eyes shining red in amongst the gold, twenty-six different wolves appeared in the painting, his aunts and uncles, cousins, brother, sisters. They were in a clearing in the preserve, some of them half hidden in the shadows of the trees, the older ones sitting near the edge of the clearing while the younger ones played in the centre, scrabbling to be the one that stood at the top of the pile of rocks, as they had done so many times over the years. 

He finally laid down his brushes when he was sure that he’d got it perfect, sure that he would be able to remember every single detail of them as their wolves for the rest of his life, he would never get to see that again, never get to play with Cora or Ellie again, never get to go hunting with his father, never watch his mother’s face brighten with a wide smile, they were dead and it was all his fault. He stared at the painting for hours, tears streaming down his face because this was all that was left of them, he couldn’t stop sobbing, when Laura returned she took one look at the painting and burst into tears too, wrapping her arms around Derek’s shoulders and holding him as tightly as she could, wetting his shoulder with her own tears. 

“It’s beautiful.” She whispered, “Perfect. Thank you.” 

They were at the motel for two weeks and were running out of money, the insurance company were not keen to pay out, Derek could understand why, but Laura kept insisting that they had to, that they would do, they just had to hold out a little longer. Part of Derek wished that Laura hadn’t spent the money on his art supplies, but, whenever he looked at the painting sat at the end of the bed he couldn’t find himself to be sorry about it, he didn’t think Laura did either. 

It happened by accident really, the manager came in to kick them out, telling them that they couldn’t stay any longer if they couldn’t pay up, Laura was explaining to him that they’d be able to pay as soon as the insurance company paid out, that if he just made an exception, just this once, they’d pay him as soon as they could. The guy was being a jackass, refusing to even consider it, up until his eyes fell on the painting and he froze, Derek tensed, thinking the guy was going to destroy it. As it was he was already struggling to control his wolf, struggling to not tear this guy apart for threatening his sister, his Alpha, the only pack he had left. 

“Alright, you can stay.” The manager said begrudgingly, “Providing I get to have that painting.” He said and Laura snarled in reply.

“It’s not for sale.” She snapped.

“Then you can get out.” The manager said simply, shrugging his shoulders, “Look, you can let me have the painting, I’ll give you another two weeks free and even throw in a hundred bucks, or you can get out today. It’s up to you.” 

“I said it’s not for sale.” Laura growled, Derek reached forwards, putting a hand on her arm gently. 

“Lau, I can do another, it’s okay.” He tried to reassure her, he didn’t want to leave here, not yet, not when they didn’t have the money to run and hide, if Kate was still out there, if she did something to Laura, he paled at the thought, he couldn’t lose his sister too. “It’s only a painting.” 

“I can’t get rid of it.” Laura almost sobbed and Derek pulled her closer. 

“I know, but you have to stay safe, we have to stay safe, that’s more important right now.” He insisted and Laura sucked in a long breath, trying to get her tears under control before she pulled out her phone, taking a very detailed picture of the painting and then nodding firmly. 

“Alright, take it.” She said, her voice breaking with emotion as the man handed over a couple of bills and picked up the painting, leaving the room almost instantly, they both broke out into sobs when it was gone, curling up on the bed and holding onto each other until it was gone. That was how he sold his first painting. 

When the insurance money came through almost two weeks later they had to leave town quickly, Laura had seen Kate and four other hunters when she left the bank and she wasn’t sure she’d been able to give them the slip. Derek had been waiting in the motel room, pacing anxiously as he felt the worry coming from Laura as she drove back to him, he’d already packed their bags and as soon as the camaro came roaring into the car park he’d grabbed up the bags, thrown them in the back seat and then they were gone, the camaro brakes squealing as Laura took the exit too fast and they narrowly missed the car full of hunters going the other way. 

Derek met Kate’s eyes as she turned to look at him, a faint smirk on her lips as he snarled at her, and then Laura was putting her foot to the floor and they were gone. 

They spent four months travelling around the country, making sure that they weren’t followed, Derek painting whenever he had the chance, doing portraits of his family, in their human forms or their wolf forms, always in the preserve, running through the trees, smiles on their faces, bare feet hitting the floor as the wolves ran around them, Laura always told them how perfect they were and sometimes Derek watched as Laura sat and stared at them for hours at a time. 

Eventually they ended up in New York, sure that they’d lost the hunters, and that they just needed to keep their heads down and they’d be safe here. They got a large open-planned loft and Derek spent his days painting until the entire loft was full of different sized canvases and almost all of his clothes were spattered in paint. Derek barely spoke, knowing that Laura was sure to hear the guilt in his voice, sure that she would know it was all his fault, he couldn’t lose her too, so instead he stayed silent, only speaking when it was an absolute necessity, and even then, it would only be one word answers. 

Laura would drag him out of the loft at least once a week and Derek felt overwhelmed by the number of people around them, of all the different scents and all the deafening noise, he hated living in the city, he wanted to go back to the preserve, but he couldn’t, because Kate was out there and if anything happened to Laura because he didn’t like the city, it would destroy him.

It was only a few months later when Laura arrived back at the loft being closely followed by a well-dressed dark-haired woman around his mom’s age who was staring at the stacks of canvases in surprise. 

“Derek this is Jody, Jody, Derek.” Jody reached out to shake his hand and Derek glanced down to his hands that were covered in paint, he wiped his hands on his jeans, smearing paint along them, they were already covered so it wouldn’t make much difference and then raised a questioning eyebrow at Laura. 

“Jody is looking to buy some of your paintings.” Laura explained and Derek tensed, “Just some of them.” Laura continued, sensing his fear.

“Your sister showed me some pictures,” Jody said, holding out a packet of photographs showing his paintings, it was evident they’d all been taken in the loft at some point, he just didn’t notice her doing it. “I’m very impressed, I’m sure I’ll be able to sell them without any issues.”

“We don’t need to sell them.” Derek growled, “We have money.” 

“We’re running out of space Der.” Laura said, a small half-smile on her lips.

“We can get a bigger place.” Derek insisted feeling panicked. 

“Derek.” Laura frowned, “We don’t have to sell them if you don’t want to, but, don’t you want other people to see them too?”

“No.” Derek replied, “They’re ours.” 

“Derek, I understand this must be hard for you, Laura told me what happened to your family and I’m so sorry for that, but, you’ve got a real talent here, all I want to do is show the rest of the world how incredible you are.” Jody explained in a soothing voice. 

“Derek, please, I know they matter to you, but, I can’t even find the bed anymore.” Laura insisted and Derek frowned, he didn’t want to, but, Laura wanted it and he couldn’t find it in his heart to refuse his sister anything she wanted. He nodded his head tightly and Laura smiled, the first smile he’d seen in months, it made his chest ache. Laura insisted that nobody could know who the artist was, that his name had to be anonymous at all times, Derek nodded in agreement with her, he would not do this if it put his sister in any kind of danger. 

Jody had smiled easily, telling him he could go by any name he wanted as she moved over to the nearest canvas and smiled. He looked to Laura who shrugged. 

“You could use ‘wolf’?” She teased, flicking a strand of long dark hair out of her eyes, and Derek rolled his eyes. “Or ‘grumpywolf’?” She added and Derek growled teasingly in his throat as Laura laughed. 

“Nothing obvious.” He instructed. 

“Wolf doesn’t sound obvious at all, and it works with the number of wolves in your paintings.” Jody said from nearby and Derek fought back an eyeroll, this woman knew nothing. 

“I like it too.” Laura grinned. “Let’s go with it, unless you have a better idea?” She said arching one eyebrow, Derek shook his head and padded back towards his latest painting, he’d let Laura deal with Jody, he just wanted to get back to what he’d been working on for the past three days. Instead he had to patiently sign each painting with the word ‘Wolf’ in the bottom right corner, it felt ridiculous but Jody insisted on it, it took four hours to sign all of the paintings in the loft and he made a mental note that in future he would just sign each one when he finished.

After that it became a regular thing, Jody would come across once a month and take a handful of paintings to be sold on, within three years he’d become a household name, Derek wasn’t really sure how it had happened, but, somehow, everyone seemed to love his paintings, they sold for hundreds of thousands and Jody only took a small percentage, Laura always made sure to snap a picture of the paintings once he was finished, sometimes making sure that both her and Derek appeared in the picture, Laura with a wide smile on her face, Derek smiling faintly at his sisters antics, paint still on his clothes or face, the painting still drying in the background. 

Everyone talked about the mysterious ‘wolf’, about who he really was, about where he lived or how old he was. Sometimes Laura made him watch awful documentaries about his paintings where other artists speculated about the meaning behind each one, about the mysterious artist, about what his plans would be for the future. Laura would always scoff at them when they got the answers wrong, shoving another handful of popcorn into her mouth and grinning at Derek. 

Derek wasn’t sure how or why the paintings were so popular but Laura was happy and that was all he could ask for, he knew he would never get to be happy again, that he was responsible for the deaths of his family and he didn’t get to be happy again because of that, but, he couldn’t deny his sister any happiness she could get. 

“Derek,” Laura said one night, they’d been living in New York for nearly five years, been gone from Beacon Hills for nearly six, he missed home, but it wasn’t his home, not anymore. He glanced away from his most recent canvas, Laura sounded worried and Derek wasn’t used to that, she hadn’t used that tone with him for a long time, he looked at her, waiting for her to continue. “It wasn’t your fault you know.” 

Derek froze, she couldn’t know what he’d done, could she? She must be talking about something else, she had to be meaning something else. 

“The fire.” Laura clarified, obviously sensing his panic and Derek couldn’t breathe, even as Laura came towards him and cupped his cheek gently, looking at him with pleading eyes, “It wasn’t your fault Derek, you couldn’t have known what she was doing, what she was planning to do.” 

“No.” Derek muttered in horror, pulling back from Laura, barely able to process what was happening. 

“Derek, listen to me.” Laura said, her eyes flashing red for a moment and Derek relaxed just slightly, this was his Alpha, this was his sister, “I know about Kate, about the two of you, I know she was responsible for the fire, not you, I know she murdered our family, not you.” 

“How do you…” He trailed off, he couldn’t finish his sentence, Laura knew, Laura knew his deepest, darkest secret. 

“Derek, please, listen to me, it wasn’t your fault, it won’t ever be your fault.” 

“Why are you saying this?” Derek finally managed to mutter. 

“I have to go, back to Beacon Hills.” Laura explained and Derek’s eyes widened in surprise, “I’m going alone.” He felt his heart breaking, “No.” Laura said sharply, obviously picking up on his distress, “Listen to me, this isn’t about you, this isn’t me leaving you, I have to go back, there’s something there, something dangerous and I have to stop it.”

“I’ll come with you.” Derek said, his voice breaking slightly.

“No, I can’t have anything happen to you Derek, I can’t lose you too. You have to stay here where it’s safe, I love you and I can’t lose you.” Laura almost sobbed, Derek only stared at her, not sure what he could possibly say, this was Laura running away from him, because she knew what he’d done and she couldn’t bear to look at him. “Please, Derek, don’t think like that.” 

Derek glanced up at her and hated that as his Alpha she could easily get a read on his emotions.

“I’m not leaving you, I’m going to stop this thing and then I’m coming back.” She insisted. “But, you had to know, had to know that if something happens, to me, while I’m there, or on the way back, I don’t blame you, I’d never blame you and neither would any of the rest of them. It wasn’t your fault Derek.”

“I’ll come with you. Just, please, don’t leave me alone.” He hated that at twenty-two he still sounded like the scared child he’d been after the fire, but the idea of Laura leaving him was making it impossible to think straight. 

“I’m not. I’m coming back. I promise. I just, I can’t take you there. I can’t risk losing you. You have to understand I love you, I love you more than anything and I can’t let anything happen to you.” Laura said, tears in her eyes, “So, I’m going to go, and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks and you will be sick of me within an hour.” She gave him a watery smile and Derek couldn’t make this any more difficult for her.

“You’ll call? Every night?” Derek asked. Over the past six years they’d gotten used to a system, that if one of them was running late, or not going to be home for any reason then they had to call, admittedly this was Laura more than Derek. Laura often met a guy she wanted to kill some time with, Derek hadn’t formed any kind of relationship with anyone here, he didn’t trust his own judgement anymore, he was better off alone, staying in their loft and finishing his latest painting, only going out for the occasional meal when the hunger became too much and Laura had forgotten to get any groceries.

Laura was gone by the end of the day, a duffle on her shoulder, a smile on her lips as she shut the door behind her, they’d spent the entire afternoon hugging each other, as Derek told her brokenly about Kate, how he’d messed up, how he’d trusted her, and Laura shushing him gently, wiping away his tears and reassuring him that it wasn’t his fault, would never be his fault. 

She had been gone a week and everything seemed to be going smoothly, Laura hadn’t found whatever it was that was responsible for the deaths, not yet at least, but she was sure she was getting close. Derek glanced at the clock again, trying to focus on the painting half-finished in front of him, Laura was late, she should have called him twenty minutes ago, he glanced at the clock again, when he noticed it hadn’t moved more than a few seconds he got up and grabbed it from the wall, sure it was broken, and, when he found it was still ticking normally, threw it across the room so it smashed against the opposite wall.

“Come on Laura.” He growled impatiently, she should have called by now. He wasn’t going to wait any longer, he packed a bag quickly, knowing he was probably overreacting but also knowing he had to be there with her, no matter how dangerous she thought it was.

He shoved his boots on and was out of the door within a few minutes, he only got a matter of feet before he felt it, the bond of his Alpha snapping, breaking, disappearing, the pain of it brought him to his knees. He knew what it meant. Laura was dead. 

He howled, he didn’t care if anyone saw him, what anyone would think, he wasn’t even sure he could think right now, his wolf was howling, and Derek was screaming, a hoarse, broken scream. Laura was dead. He should have been there. 

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he managed to climb to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall and only one clear thought running through his mind, Laura was dead, whoever did it needed to pay. 

By the time he had arrived in Beacon Hills all hell seemed to have broken out.


	2. Chapter 2

He’d run into two kids in the woods, stilling for a moment when he’d looked at one of them, the kid was attractive, not that Derek was going to do anything about that, hell no. It didn’t take him long to figure out the other one had been recently bitten by the new Alpha, or for both of them to get him arrested for Laura’s murder. 

“Derek,” The sheriff said, sitting down in front of him and sighing, Derek remembered him from the night of the fire, he was a deputy back then, he’d put his jacket around Derek’s shoulders and whispered a few words of sympathy to him, Derek felt the sincerity in his words, that this man could never know the full extent of his loss, but that he’d lost someone, knew how that felt. “I need to understand.” The man continued, not completely unkindly.

“Understand?” Derek arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah, you and your sister survive the fire unharmed, within a month you’ve completely vanished, nobody knows where, then my son finds half of your sister’s body buried next to your house. So, help me understand?” 

“Stiles is your kid?” Derek says a little surprised, he probably should have realised, now he’s closer he can smell the sheriff properly and yeah, he does smell a little like Stiles, or, actually, Stiles smells like him, not that Derek had spent the past couple of days unable to get Stiles’ scent out of his mind, definitely not that.

“Yeah.” The sheriff smiled fondly before his face grew serious again. “Derek, I don’t believe you killed your sister. I don’t know what you’ve been doing for the past six years, and I don’t know how that has changed you, but I still remember the kid that could barely speak he was so consumed with grief, Stiles went the opposite way obviously, can’t get him to shut up, any silence must be filled. But, that’s besides the point, I don’t think, whatever you’ve gone through these past years, that you would ever murder your sister. So, help me understand? Give me another reason, another explanation for why Laura’s body was buried there.” 

Derek paused, trying to keep his wolf under control at the mention of ‘Laura’ and ‘body’ those words should never be strung together like that. He took a breath to try and calm himself as best he could, staring at the table rather than the sheriff. 

“I found her, in the woods, I, I wanted to bury her next to the house, with the others.” He admitted. 

“Why didn’t you let us know that you’d found her?” 

“I wasn’t thinking straight, wasn’t thinking clearly, I just, she was dead, and I just, I wanted her to rest peacefully.” Derek said, his voice cracking slightly. There was a knock on the door and a deputy came in, handing the sheriff a folder and then retreating, the sheriff looked over the enclosed paperwork for a couple of minutes before sighing, standing up and placing a hand on Derek’s shoulders.

“It’s confirmed as an animal kill, they found wolf hairs on her body. You’re free to go.” The sheriff said, releasing his grip on Derek’s shoulders and leaving the door open behind him as he left the room. 

The next few months were filled with danger, fear and confusion, not to mention, for some reason that Derek couldn’t understand, a lot of Stiles. The kid was always there, no matter what Derek was doing, Derek figured it was because Scott seemed to be ditching him to spend time with Allison, Allison Argent, Derek didn’t trust her, he’d tried to warn Scott but Scott had only snarled and then ignored him. 

 

Jody had called him the month after he’d left New York, demanding to know where he was and which paintings she could take, he told her about Laura, that she had died and he’d left town, that she could take them all, sell them all, and call him when she had, then he’d see if he wanted to sell any more.

He’d been looking through Laura’s duffel when Stiles arrived, his fingers brushing several packets of photographs and pulling them out, unable to stop the hysterical laughter that bubbled out of him when he saw it was photos of his paintings.

He had sat down, looking through them, up close ones of his paintings, ones of Laura posing for the camera, Derek busy painting behind her, apparently oblivious to what she was doing, he’d taken to painting shirtless after too many of his shirts had got ruined and Laura was pulling a stupid face at his back, ones of the two of them grinning, the smile never quite reaching Derek’s eyes, Laura smiling wide enough for both of them, he missed her, god he missed her so much. 

He’d almost missed the rumble of Stiles’ jeep coming up the drive, his mind lost in the memories of Laura, of the times they’d shared in New York, of the fact she knew about Kate and hadn’t blamed him. He only just had time to shove the photos back in the packets before Stiles had burst through the door and Derek couldn’t help but growl at him. 

“Dude can you stop growling at me.” Stiles said as he wandered into the burned down house and Derek moved away from Laura’s duffle to glare at him. “I know, you’re the big bad wolf who could totally eat me if he wanted, but, the thing is, I’m like a bad smell that won’t go away, no matter how much you try to scare me, and, you do scare me, a lot, but, like, you’re a good guy, I know Scott doesn’t think so, but, he barely thinks at all, unless it’s about Allison. I’m totally getting off track here, point is, I’m not going anywhere, you’re stuck with me, so if you could stop growling at me every time you see me that would be great.” Stiles rambled and Derek softened slightly.

There was something about Stiles, something that Derek could never quite get a grasp on, he did think he’d be able to scare him off, but, after Stiles had saved his life, after he’d been shot and Stiles had hit him to wake him up, to figure out how to save him, well, Derek couldn’t exactly find it in himself to try and scare Stiles any more, okay, so Scott had helped, brought the bullet he needed, but, still, it was Stiles that he was more grateful too. 

He glanced at the tarp behind Stiles that covered the room where he painted, what used to be his dad’s office, thank god Stiles didn’t have werewolf senses otherwise he’d probably be able to smell the paint, and, while he found that oddly he didn’t mind if Stiles found out he painted, he didn’t want Stiles to find out what he’d been painting that morning. He hadn’t meant to paint Stiles, but when he closed his eyes Stiles was the only thing that came to mind, the way his limbs flailed in a hundred different directions when he tried to explain something, the way his eyes softened when he looked at his dad, or the way they hardened when he was angry, the way he bit his bottom lip or his tongue darted out to lick at his lips when he was nervous. He’d just been unable to get him out of his mind, get his scent out of his nose, so he’d had to paint him, just to try and get it right, looking at Stiles now, Derek was pretty sure he’d got it perfect and couldn’t help the small smile to himself. 

“Anyway, what are you doing? Any leads on the Alpha?” 

“No.” Derek snapped, going to shove the photos back in Laura’s duffle before suddenly Stiles was there and he was almost snatching them out of Derek’s hands. 

“What’s this?” Stiles said curiously, already opening the first packet, “Oh, dude, I love this guy.” Stiles said energetically, “Like, his paintings are so good, they’re like, well, they’re kind of heart-breaking, you know, like it feels he’s put all of his emotions into them, you know what I mean?”

“What?” Derek said, more than a little surprised. 

“Wolf? The artist? The person who painted these pictures?” Stiles rambled, looking for any evidence of recognition on Derek’s face, “I figured you had to be a big fan to take pictures of all his paintings, I mean, dad and I went to New York last year for a weekend, and, dude, I saw one of the paintings, like, I’d seen pictures before, but god they do not do it justice, it’s just, amazing, I kind of figured you’d seen them all.” Stiles continued, flicking through to next photo, Derek snatched them back before Stiles could see any that were of Laura and him, he didn’t want Stiles to know about him. 

“They’re Laura’s.” Derek growled and Stiles’ face fell slightly before he nodded, handing the rest of the photos back to Derek. 

“You want to talk about it?” Stiles tried, Derek glared at him. “Dude, I don’t know how crap it must be to lose your entire family to some crazy nut job hunter like Kate, but, I do know how it feels to lose someone. I lost my mom. You don’t get over it, not ever, and dad doesn’t like talking about her and that’s hard, you know, I loved my mom, loved talking to her, loved listening to her, playing stupid games with her, reading bedtime stories, getting her to help me with my homework, all that kind of stuff, and I miss her, but I don’t get to talk about her, and, okay, maybe it’s easier for you not to talk about it, because you don’t really talk much at all, but, if you ever want to talk, you can talk to me.” Stiles said, blushing slightly by the end of his outburst. 

“I don’t want to talk.” Derek snapped, effectively ending the conversation as he put the photos back in Laura’s duffle and Stiles nodded, humming as he did so. 

“Okay, cool, that’s good, well, anyway, Scott is out with Allison tonight and I thought that you might want some help with looking for the Alpha, watch your back kind of thing, make sure that Kate isn’t about to try to kill you again.”

“I’ll kill her first.” Derek replied. 

“Seriously!?” Stiles exclaimed, “Yeah, because that went so well last time, look, I know you hate her, hell, I do too, I mean, she used you to murder your family, of course you’re….woah!” Stiles shouted in panic as Derek slammed him into the nearest wall. 

“What did you just say?” Derek snarled, his eyes flashing blue as his wolf struggled for control, and Stiles gulped. 

“I just meant, I didn’t mean to upset you, I just meant, about the two of you, you’d have been sixteen and she was twenty-four, like, obviously, she was using you, it’s not your fault you didn’t see it.” Stiles rambled, his voice cutting off when Derek’s grip on his shirt tightened.

“Does Scott know?” Derek barked, wanting to know how many people now knew his darkest secret because Stiles couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“No, of course not, I mean, I can tell him if you want, but I figured it wasn’t something you wanted spreading around, not that it’s your fault or you’re to blame or anything like that. I mean, I blamed myself for my mom’s death, I still do, so I understand the guilt thing, and there’s probably no point in me saying that it wasn’t your fault, because you wouldn’t believe me anyway, and now I feel that I should probably shut up.” Stiles whimpered slightly when Derek’s grip tightened again and then fell away. He turned his back on Stiles, his wolf yipping slightly, wanting him to turn around, to talk to Stiles. 

“How did she die?” He asked, still with his back to Stiles, glaring at the floor like it personally offended him. 

“Frontotemporal dementia.” Stiles said a moment later, his voice sounding quiet, “There was a car crash, and she got hurt, she was okay for a while, and then, then she started to change, get confused, angry, violent, the doctors said they couldn’t do anything. I heard them talking to my dad one night, about how her brain was basically wasting away, that in all likelihood it was caused by the accident. She died less than a year after the accident.” He confessed. 

“Was the accident your fault?” Derek queried, generally curious about how Stiles could blame himself for his mother’s death.

“Dad says it wasn’t, but I know it was.” Stiles admitted, “I was being a brat, I wanted to stay in town with Scott and mom and dad wanted to take me away camping, spend some time together, mom was driving, I started acting up, they both turned to shout at me and then a deer ran out in front of us.” Stiles paused, looking a little emotional and Derek fought the strong urge to comfort him, to let Stiles finish his story, “I think I passed out for a little bit, when I woke up the car was upside down, I couldn’t get my seatbelt undone and I couldn’t get either of them to hear me, to wake up. It felt like days before anyone passed by, before they managed to get us out and call an ambulance, it was five hours, five hours that my mom was hanging upside down with bleeding on the brain because of me and eventually it killed her. So, yeah, I know about the guilt of knowing you’re responsible for the death of a loved one. Except, it is my fault, whereas, you, you didn’t do anything, other than fall in love with the wrong person.”

Derek was speechless, he didn’t know what to say, he’d listened to Stiles’ heartbeat, knew every word he spoke was the truth, that Stiles genuinely felt responsible for the death of his mother. 

“How old were you?” Derek croaked.

“Seven.” Stiles sighed, “She didn’t make it to my eighth birthday.” 

“I’m sorry Stiles.” Derek muttered, “It isn’t your fault though, illnesses like that, they just happen, it’s not anyone’s fault.”

“That’s not what the doctors said.” Stiles mumbled, “Anyway, enough about me, now you know my sad little story maybe one day you’ll feel like telling me yours, but, until then, I’m going to come with you and we’re going to find out who the hell this Alpha is and take him down.” Stiles rambled, the false cheer obvious for Derek, but, he wasn’t going to argue with Stiles. 

The instant Derek found out that not only was his uncle Peter the Alpha that had killed Laura but that Stiles was trapped in there with him, alone, Derek had raced out of the car, not caring that he was going up against an Alpha that would probably kill him, only caring about getting Stiles the hell out of there before he died too. 

Somehow he survived and so did Stiles, but Peter was at full power and completely insane, Derek knew he’d have to kill him, not only to avenge Laura, but to protect everyone else and even though he knew Scott wanted to be the one to kill Peter, in a vain attempt to reverse the bite, Derek couldn’t let him do it, one because Scott wasn’t a killer, it just wasn’t in him, and two, perhaps more importantly, if Scott did manage to kill Peter then he would become the Alpha, Derek couldn’t deal with that. He didn’t want to be Alpha, it had never been in the cards that he would be Alpha, but it was his family’s power and even though he was sure he’d probably be terrible at it, he also thought he’d probably be slightly better than a kid who had only been bitten two months ago and had spent most of that time looking to Stiles, a human, for guidance whenever he wasn’t too busy with Allison.

Derek hated the fact that he was the one that had to kill Peter but he also knew it was the only option, so, when the opportunity presented itself, with a lot of help from Stiles, he ended it and became the Alpha. 

Scott hated him for taking the chance of becoming human again away from him, but Stiles argued with him.

“Scotty, it was only ever theoretical anyway.” Stiles explained, like he hadn’t been the one that stayed up for two nights’ straight trying to find a way to reverse it for Scott. “What we know for certain is that if you had killed him you would have taken on the powers of an Alpha, if you think the wolf is hard to control now, imagine what it would be like with like super wolf mojo, right Derek?” Stiles asked and Scott looked at Derek with doubt, Derek only nodded in return, “You see, yeah, you might have ended up human, but more likely you would have ended up as a crazed Alpha and if you couldn’t get control we’d have to try and kill you, which, honestly, I don’t want to do, and two, I’m running out of fire bombs.” 

“I wouldn’t kill you.” Scott grumbled and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Dude, you’ve already tried to kill me like eight times, some of those weren’t even on the full moon, like, seriously, am I that annoying you want to kill me even without the wolf in control?” 

“Yes.” Derek nodded and Stiles turned to gape at him. 

“Alright, well, now I know, anyway, point being, Scotty you don’t want Alpha powers, Derek’s already super grumpy and he’s only had them like five minutes.” 

“Shut up Stiles.” Derek and Scott said in unison, Stiles opened and closed his mouth a few times before nodding. 

“Thanks.” Scott said, turning slightly towards Derek, and it was absolutely the last thing he’d ever expected Scott to say to him. “For, you know, not making me kill him.” 

“I’m sorry.” Derek replied, he wasn’t sure what he was apologising for, maybe the cure would have worked, but it probably wouldn’t, and Derek wasn’t able to take that risk.

“Well, as lovely as this chick flick moment is, can we go home now?” Stiles whined a few minutes later, evidently completely unable to shut up for more than a few moments. 

The next few months were, eventful, to say the least. Derek had felt the urge to create a new pack, he had no idea how Laura had resisted it, maybe because she was stronger than he was, anyway, he bit four teenagers as they were more likely to survive the bite, Isaac, Erica and Boyd became his betas, the bite hadn’t worked on Jackson, but he’d still somehow survived which confused Derek. Stiles assured him that the same thing had happened to Lydia and that she was fine, Scott was on the outskirts of his pack, not accepting him as his Alpha, but still hovering around when he needed help. Derek was more than a little surprised that Stiles felt more like a beta than Scott, but, he probably shouldn’t be that surprised, Stiles pretty much occupied all of his thoughts, most of the paintings he did had Stiles in them somewhere, what Derek imagined him like as a wolf, Stiles walking between the trees his favourite red hoodie wrapped tight around him, his eyes, god his eyes were mesmerising, Derek hated not being able to control his feelings, so instead he buried them deep down and instead continued doing what he’d always done which was manhandle Stiles, although maybe a bit more often than necessary. 

When the kanima paralyzed him and Stiles held him up in the pool for two hours it took Derek three days before he could even confess to himself that he had stronger feelings for Stiles than for anyone else in his life, that he cared about him, that he loved him. Derek wasn’t going to fall into that trap again though, Stiles might have proved he could be trusted but that didn’t mean it wasn’t some extended complicated plan that would result in Derek’s death, he knew that Stiles had the brains to pull something like that off. 

Jody had come to collect several paintings, Derek met her at the container that he had rented out, not wanting any of the pack to accidently find the paintings in the house, he’d set up a bright light and there were stacks of finished paintings leaning against the walls, Jody had been a little startled but had smiled at him, giving him a gentle hug which Derek had returned gingerly. She took several of the paintings, including the one of Stiles as a wolf, and another of Stiles running through the trees, the red hoodie flapping in the breeze, Derek as a wolf running at his side, easily keeping pace. He found out later that one sold for half a million, the popularity of his paintings still amazed him, he didn’t understand it, but he wouldn’t complain, he figured Jody had a lot to do with it, she was amazing at what she did. He made sure to take a picture of every painting before she took them, adding the photos to Laura’s collection, not willing to break the tradition that Laura had started. 

It all came to a head eventually and Derek should have known that he would never get to have a happy ending, not that he’d imagined that with Stiles, he hadn’t. Except, now, it wasn’t ever going to be an option. 

They were stood in the warehouse, Peter was alive again through some miracle and Derek didn’t know what to do with that, he wanted to talk to Stiles, knew that Stiles would help him make some sense out of all this. 

Scott had forced him to bite Gerard while he was paralyzed and could do nothing about it, and even though Derek had done his best to snarl at him, Scott had only watched triumphantly as black goo began to run from Gerard’s orifices. Jackson let go of Allison and she practically ran across to her father as Jackson moved forwards to attack them again. 

Stiles’ jeep crashed through the warehouse wall and Derek relaxed just slightly when it hit Jackson and knocked him to the ground, Lydia jumping out and screaming for Jackson. It was only after it was all finished, when Jackson was finally a proper werewolf, that Derek realised it hadn’t been Stiles driving. 

Instead the sheriff was staring around the warehouse, taking in the shifted werewolves with wide eyes, finally landing on Scott and moving towards him. 

“We got your messages, where’s Stiles?” The sheriff asked quickly, holding up Stiles’ phone and waving it at Scott.

“What?” Scott responded eloquently and Derek rolled his eyes. 

“Stiles! Where is he!? Is he here?” The sheriff asked again sounding desperate, his eyes landing on Gerard when the man began to chuckle quietly. 

“Noah,” Gerard laughed, coughing up black goo as he did so, “You think these animals, these monsters, know where he is?” Derek could feel the rising panic in his chest. 

“When did you last see him?” Derek asked Noah quickly. 

“The lacrosse game, he disappeared, he was on the pitch and then the lights went out, and Jackson, Jackson was dead and Stiles was gone.” Noah explained and Derek glanced at Scott who nodded in confirmation.

“That was hours ago.” Chris Argent said and Derek glared at him. 

“We’ll split up, we’ll find him sir.” Isaac said quickly, already moving towards the door when Gerard laughed again. 

“I can tell you where he is, or, at least where he was.” Gerard smirked and Noah stormed over to him, grapping him by the collar and hauling him to his feet.

“What the hell have you done with my son!?” 

“He’s dead.” Gerard grinned and Derek was sure that all the air had been sucked from the room, “Don’t tell me you didn’t feel it Alpha?” He scoffed, “We took him from the pitch and we tortured him, along with your other two betas. My men took him out into the woods and killed him. He’s dead. He’s dead and you didn’t even notice he was gone. He sacrificed himself in an attempt to protect this pack and you didn’t even care enough to notice.” Gerard laughed and Derek snarled.

“You’re lying.” Allison said horror-struck.

“I let Erica and Boyd out just before we came here, there was no sign of Stiles.” Chris said, glaring at his father in hatred.

“What? No blood puddle at the bottom of the stairs?” Gerard taunted and Chris paled considerable, looking at Noah with sorrow in his eyes. “That’s from where we ran a knife across his skin, sliced his calves open so he couldn’t run away. He screamed at that one. Actually, he screamed a lot, it was fun.” Gerard laughed and Noah slammed him into the front of the jeep.

“You’re lying. He’s not. He’s not. I’d know.” Noah yelled.

“What? Like you’d know if there were things like werewolves running around your town? Face it Noah, he’s dead, he died screaming, in pain, alone, trying to protect them, because these monsters didn’t care about him, didn’t even think to look for him. You should be proud of him though, he was tough, strong, he wouldn’t break, determined to protect them, however he could. I understand the pain of losing a child, these monsters murdered my daughter after all, I didn’t want to have to do that to you, but, he was stubborn, too stubborn I guess. I was impressed at his ability to stay strong even when we tortured him for information, if he had been my son I would have told him how proud I was of him, I wonder if he knew how proud you were of him? Before he died? You think he knew you loved him?”

“No.” Scott muttered, tears running down his face as Jackson, of all people, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “No, he can’t be dead. He can’t be.”

“Want to call my men? Maybe if you’re lucky they haven’t quite finished him off yet? I did tell them they could have as much fun as they wanted before they cut his heart out.” Gerard grinned. 

“You bastard!” Lydia screamed, only being held back from hitting Gerard by Peter who was looking at Derek with confusion in his eyes, as if he didn’t know how to handle this.

“May I?” Gerard said, pulling his phone from his pocket and Noah releasing his grip slightly, desperate to hear his son’s voice, he was still alive, he had to be alive. Derek listened to the phone ring loudly in the silent room, his heart beating so fast he was sure he was going to pass out when it finally connected. 

“Boss?”

“Is it done?” Gerard asked. 

“The kid? Yeah, he’s dead.” The voice replied, so casually, as if those words didn’t shatter Derek’s heart. “Might take them a few days to find the body though.”

“Good.” Gerard smirked, “Make sure the only way they ever find him is the smell of burned flesh.” He grinned and Derek snarled, launching himself forward and tearing out Gerard’s throat in one swift movement. 

Noah dropped the lifeless body to the floor, staring into space in shock, trapped in his own thoughts, unable to process the knowledge that Stiles was dead, it couldn’t be true, Derek could see the man practically crumbling before his very eyes, when his legs gave out a moment later Derek grabbed him, stopping him from hitting the floor as Scott rushed to his side. 

As soon as Scott grabbed hold of Noah, Derek let go of him, turning towards the door, he would tear this entire town apart to find Stiles, he wouldn’t rest until he did. He heard Isaac follow behind him a moment later, then Allison, Chris, Jackson, Lydia and even Peter, he didn’t care what they did, what their motives were, all he cared about was finding Stiles, Stiles who had to be alive, he couldn’t be dead, Derek couldn’t lose him too. 

It took them three days to find the body, Lydia was the one to find it, voice trembling in shock as she called for the others, Jackson was only a few steps behind her anyway and Derek ran over, he hadn’t slept in three days and he was exhausted, but he had to find Stiles, had to find him alive, see him grimacing as he said something he hadn’t meant to, frowning as he struggled to shut up for more than one minute. That wasn’t what they found.

The body was burned, beyond all recognition, the bones so badly broken that it barely looked human, Derek prayed that the other hunters had done that after he was already dead, his teeth had been pulled at some point and Derek was pretty sure his hands and feet were missing, although it was hard to tell with the other damage. He could almost believe that it wasn’t Stiles, that it was someone else, except he could smell Stiles’ blood where it had stained the ground, he tried not to look at the pile of clothes nearby, the lacrosse shorts that looked to have been pulled off at the same time as his boxers, both of which were stained with blood, or the shirt that was thrown on the other side of the body, as if it had been removed in a rush and then thrown carelessly away, even his shoes and socks were scattered nearby and Derek howled in agony, collapsing to his knees and howling, he’d lost Stiles, Stiles was dead and it was all his fault. 

He was vaguely aware of the others nearby, Lydia sobbing, Jackson retching over at the nearest tree, Allison burying her head in her father’s shoulder who was staring at Stiles’ body stoically. Peter and Isaac were standing behind him, each of them holding a hand on his shoulder, Derek thought it was supposed to be comforting, it wasn’t, Stiles was dead and it was his fault. 

Scott, Noah and Melissa appeared ten minutes later, Noah had said that if he wasn’t involved in the search then he’d go out there by himself that he wouldn’t rest until his son was found, Derek had at least managed to get him to stay a little behind them, keeping him out of the way just in case there was any danger, Scott had stayed with him and Melissa had insisted that she be there, hoping that she would be able to provide Stiles with some kind of medical assistance. Derek had managed to stumble to his feet by the time Noah got there, although he wasn’t sure how, Noah had looked at the body for a moment, taking in the clothing strewn around the clearing and even though he wasn’t able to smell the blood, the looks on the pack’s faces gave him the answer, this was Stiles, this mangled mess was all that was left of his son. 

He broke down, unable to keep himself on his feet, even though Scott’s strong arms were wrapped around his chest and Melissa’s head was resting on his shoulder, whispering meaningless words of comfort as she sobbed brokenly at Stiles’ remains. 

Derek felt his wolf demanding control and he gave over to it, knowing that he couldn’t deal with his grief as a human right now, instead he became a wolf, a huge black wolf with glowing red eyes and paws the size of dinner plates. He started to run, tracking the only scent that hadn’t been burned away, sure that it was one of the hunters that had done this, he wouldn’t stop until he had tracked them down and torn them apart. He howled out his grief as he ran, receiving replies from his pack, as they filled the preserve with howls of loss, of grief, of pain and of revenge.

He managed to track the scent to the main road, about two miles away, but from there they obviously got into a vehicle and drove away, Derek despised them, hated them, wanted to find them, track them down, taste their blood in his mouth, feel their panic when they knew they were going to die. They killed Stiles, the most innocent of all of them, and they didn’t just kill him, they tortured him, Derek’s mind was filled with the possibilities of what they’d done, the clothes lying scattered around the clearing made his stomach twist uncomfortably with dread. Stiles was dead, he couldn’t be, Derek couldn’t take this, couldn’t handle this. He’d kept him at arms’ length because he was sure his judgement couldn’t be trusted, that Stiles would betray him, except he was wrong, and now, now Stiles was dead, and maybe if Derek had trusted his instincts, even just a little bit, then Gerard wouldn’t have been able to take him, wouldn’t have been able to kill him. He took off running, hoping that if he ran for long enough maybe he’d be able to forget, he didn’t care that he left the rest of the pack behind him, he just had to run, had to get away from the undeniable truth that Stiles was dead.

It took three weeks before Peter managed to track him down, Isaac and Jackson right behind him as Derek glared at them, he didn’t want to see them, didn’t want to see any of them, he wanted to stay as a wolf, hunting in the preserve, running until he couldn’t run anymore and his body collapsed from exhaustion, he was fine here, he could stay here and not have to deal with the reality of Stiles’ death. 

“Derek,” Peter sighed exasperated, “enough is enough. You can’t stay as a wolf forever. Come back with us.” Derek only growled at him when Peter took a step towards him. 

“You’re our Alpha. Without you we’re not a pack.” Jackson snapped impatiently, “You turned us, you promised to be there to help us and right now Erica and Boyd are still missing and you’re too busy feeling sorry for yourself to look out for us.” Those words cut deep but Jackson was right, Derek had promised that, but maybe they’d be better off without him, no, they would be better off without him, there was no maybe about it. 

“Derek,” Isaac whispered, his eyes filled with tears, “Scott’s not doing so well, neither is the sheriff, they couldn’t identify the remains, but, they’re certain it’s him. There’s going to be a funeral tomorrow, Scott wants you there, so does Noah. You should be there. Stiles,” Isaac almost choked on the name and Derek felt a wave of pain cut through him, “Stiles,” Isaac ploughed forwards, “he’d want you there. I’m sure of it.”

“We know you cared for him.” Peter said quickly, “I can understand why, he had an annoying habit of growing on you, getting under your skin, and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry that hunters took him from you too, but, being like this, it isn’t helping anything. We need to find Erica and Boyd, we need to support the sheriff, he wants to talk to you, has been desperate to talk to you. Don’t you owe him the chance to talk to you? Don’t you owe him that?” Derek whined guiltily, yeah, he owed Noah that much, he’d got his son killed, it was only fair to let him yell at Derek for it. 

He followed Isaac, Jackson and Peter back to the train yard, staying in his wolf form, as if that would somehow help him deal with all this, he was exhausted and as soon as they arrived he collapsed down onto the nearest mattress and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Isaac woke him the next morning, prodding him in the shoulder gently, a look of concern on his features. 

“Derek, we have to get going, if, you know…” He trailed off and Derek nodded, shifting back to human for the first time since finding Stiles’ body and having to take a few minutes to adjust to the differences. 

“You look like shit.” Lydia said from nearby and Derek turned to look at her, Jackson was stood next to her, Chris and Allison stood a little further away from Derek, he could smell the guilt coming from both of them and he felt a little glad about that, at least he wasn’t the only one. Peter was stood off to one side, a bucket of water at his feet and Derek strode over to it, he didn’t care that he was naked, his body covered in filth from the forest, or that he had more of a beard than he’d ever had before, his hair was sticking up in all directions, matted together slightly and his eyes were red-rimmed with grief and exhaustion. 

He ducked his face in the cold water, scrubbing at his face and running his hands through his hair, Peter threw him a cloth and he ran it quickly over his body, snatching a towel from Isaac and then moving to grab some clothes, he looked at the dark t-shirts and trousers and fought back a wave of grief, thinking about the multiple times that Stiles had teased him about his fear of colour, throwing on a pair of dark jeans and a t-shirt, shoving his feet into his boots and grabbing his leather jacket. 

“Noah wants us all to wear something colourful.” Jackson explained and Derek looked back down at his clothes, the most colourful item he owned was still a light grey, Lydia rolled her eyes impatiently and threw a plaid t-shirt at him, he caught it easily and stilled as the overwhelming scent of Stiles hit him and he practically shoved his nose into it, desperate to lose himself in his scent, no matter how pathetic he looked he couldn’t help it. 

He slipped his arms into the shirt, feeling an odd warmth surround him as he inhaled Stiles’ scent and then they were going. He glanced again at the others, noticed the bright pink of Lydia’s skirt, the green of Jackson’s shirt, Allison’s purple shoes, Chris’ bright blue trousers, Isaac’s yellow scarf, Peter’s red jacket, they’d all complied with Noah’s wishes and Derek choked back a sob of pain as he thought about how much Stiles would have loved taking the piss out of all of them, especially Derek, in plaid. 

They arrived at the church and it was already heaving, Derek was surprised, considering Stiles had always said that nobody would notice if he disappeared for a few days, the number of people there suggested otherwise, teachers, other students, deputy’s and their families from the station. Derek was going to stand at the back of the church but Lydia sighed, grabbed his hand and dragged him to the front where the front rows were empty, no doubt for family, Derek felt like hundreds of eyes were burning into the back of his head and they probably were, he could smell the curiosity wafting off a lot of them, wondering what Derek Hale was doing on the front bench at Stiles’ funeral when they’d barely known each other. 

The doors opened at the back of the church and everyone went silent, Derek tensed, hearing the shuffle of feet coming along the aisle, he couldn’t turn and look, he was barely holding it together as it was, the coffin came into view and Derek felt his legs weaken, Peter’s grip on his wrist the only thing keeping him upright. 

Noah, Scott and Melissa moved to the bench, Noah barely looking away from the coffin and Scott nodding at him in greeting. Derek couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t do this, Stiles was dead and it was his fault and he couldn’t stand here and pretend it was okay, he had to leave, he couldn’t be here, he took a step forwards, fully intending to run out of the church and never look back when Scott’s hand clamped down around his other wrist and Derek looked at him in shock.

“Stay.” Scott pleaded, looking at him with wide eyes and Derek nodded before he’d really had a chance to think about it. The service was emotional, Derek was barely holding it together and then Scott had dropped his hand from Derek’s wrist and moved towards the front of the church, clutching a piece of paper in trembling hands and clearing his throat nervously. 

“Stiles,” He began, clearing his throat again and looking at his mom who nodded reassuringly, Scott could do this, “Most of you won’t have known Stiles like I did and that was your loss, he was my best friend, but more than that, he was my brother. I let him down, a lot, more than I’ll ever know probably, but he never complained about it, I mean, yeah, he gave me shit about it, but, he was never truly mad at me, and I hate that. I wish he had been, I wish that I’d realised how much I let him down and made more of an effort with him, I might have been there for him, I might have been able to stop all this from happening, that we wouldn’t have to be standing here today.” 

Derek felt the tears running unchecked down his cheeks and couldn’t even try to stop them, if he moved right now it would only drive him to his knees, he was shaking, trembling, his wolf howling at him to do something, to fix this, to stop this pain and grief, to bring him back, whatever bond he’d felt with Stiles shattered in his chest, as if, by seeing the funeral it was all suddenly real, Stiles was dead, he was gone, and there was no bringing him back. His hand moved to his chest, wincing at the intense pain there, hating that this was real, that Stiles was gone, that the last thing he had, their bond, was broken.

“I,” Scott cleared his throat again, obviously fighting back the tears, “Stiles was hyperactive, always, if he was ever quiet for more than five minutes you knew something was wrong, and the only time he could sit still was when he was researching something that was important to him, otherwise you’d just watch him pacing a groove into the floor. He couldn’t sit still, couldn’t shut up, no matter how many people threatened him with violence, he was just so full of energy, so full of life.” Tears trickled down Scott’s cheeks and his voice cracked with grief, he swiped at the tears, shaking the paper slightly to find his place again. 

“I don’t know how I’ll survive without him, he was, he was always there for me, whenever I needed him, I knew he’d always have my back, and, god, I’m just, I’m so sorry Stiles, I’m so sorry, if I could change this, if I could do something to bring you back, to have you here with us, I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be the friend to you that you were to me.” Scott turned to the coffin, talking more to Stiles than the rest of the room, “The day I met you, that day in the sandbox in second grade, it changed my life, you just sat down and started talking to me like we’d known each other for years, and it felt like it, by the end of the day you were my best friend, you were there when I had an asthma attack and didn’t have my inhaler and you grabbed it out of my bag and then always made sure you had a spare one if I needed it. I mean, you were a kid, and you were so smart and so prepared and I always looked up to you, I always looked to you for advice because you were the one that always figured everything out. That didn’t change as we grew up.” Scott took a deep breath and Noah nodded at him, telling him to continue.

“The thing is, Stiles would talk, he could talk for hours, but he was so good at never saying anything important unless he wanted to, and he could hide so much, he had panic attacks, after his mom died, I didn’t know about them, he always managed to keep them from me, I think, I think he did that to protect me, because he didn’t want me to have to deal with it. I only found out a few years after because his dad told me, Stiles had managed to get past them by then, at least so his dad thought, I’d sometimes catch him though, taking a deep breath, counting to four and letting it go again, I didn’t know how to talk to him about it though. Another thing where I failed him. He always came across so strong, like nothing could break him, like he could survive anything thrown at him, that it wouldn’t even phase him, probably because he was stubborn as hell too.”

Scott wiped a shaking hand over his eyes, looking closer to the edge every second that passed, Derek saw his eyes flash gold for a second and his flashed red in response, letting Scott know that he was here, that he wasn’t going anywhere. Scott took a deep breath and got himself back under control, glancing back down at the paper again.

“Stiles was stubborn and loyal to a fault, if you had him on your side then nothing could go wrong. He wasn’t exactly the best at fighting, there were plenty of times when we got our asses handed to us for one reason or another, but Stiles always got his own back, some prank always up his sleeve, the severity depending on how he was feeling that day, so you could end up with your locker superglued shut and filled with water, or a twelve-foot poster of you picking your nose stuck to the cafeteria wall.” Jackson laughed at the memory of that, he deserved it at the time, now it just made him a little sad that Stiles wasn’t around to do anything like that again. 

“Anyone who knew Stiles knew that he was one-of-a-kind, that we won’t ever be able to meet anyone like him again, and that the world is going to be darker without him in it. I messed up with him, I let him down and I wasn’t there when he needed me, but, Stiles, if you can hear me, I promise you I’ll do everything in my power to look out for your dad, to do a better job of protecting him than I did you.” Scott muttered, his words losing their volume as he continued and tears ran down his cheeks. 

When Noah got up to follow the coffin out to the graveyard he pulled Derek with him, clapping a hand on his shoulder and holding him tightly, Derek was sure it was so he could witness first-hand the damage he’d caused, as if it wasn’t already obvious that Derek was crumbling. 

The crowd of mourners followed them to a grave and Derek saw the name Claudia Stilinski already engraved on the nearby headstone, Noah sobbed brokenly and Derek offered him whatever comfort he could, it was only a hand on his arm but it was all he could offer right now. When the coffin was lowered into the ground the only thing keeping Derek upright was the hand on Noah’s arm, he knew he looked a mess, that the evidence of his grief was there for all of them to stare at, but he couldn’t find it in himself to hold it together. 

Shortly afterwards, the majority of mourners left, the only ones left behind were the members of the pack, standing around the grave in varying degrees of grief and shock, Noah didn’t tear his eyes away from the grave when he cleared his throat and Derek tensed, this was it, the moment when Noah told him that he was to blame, that it was his fault and he should stay away before he got the rest of them killed too. 

“He died protecting you all, that’s what Gerard said, that Stiles thought it was more important to protect you than to survive.” Noah said, his voice toneless, numb, and it made Derek inside’s ache with grief, finally Noah turned to look at him, meeting his gaze, Derek saw the pain there but also saw the anger, “Don’t let it have been for nothing.” 

“What?” Derek said shocked.

“He died, he died for this pack, don’t let that sacrifice be for nothing. Don’t leave them here to fend for themselves, don’t let Stiles have died protecting them and then leave them to die anyway. Don’t make this any more pointless than it already is. Stay, train them, teach them, make sure they live, make sure you live.” Noah continued angrily, “Make this worth something, make his death worth something. Don’t let this have been for nothing, please.” 

Derek was lost for words, of everything he’d expected Noah to say, it hadn’t been that. He clenched his jaw, nodding tightly and clamping down on his emotions, he was the Alpha, he was the one that had to hold it together, for the sake of his pack. 

“Good. Now, how do we find Erica and Boyd?” Noah asked and Isaac squeaked, Noah glared at him.

“It’s just, Stiles, he didn’t want you to know about this, he wanted you kept out of it, to keep you safe.” 

“That’s not an option, I know everything now, Scott’s told me everything, so I’m in this, my son died for you, if you don’t think I’m not willing to risk everything to protect that sacrifice, that I won’t risk my life to make sure you stay alive, to carry on his final act, then you are damn wrong. You’re all alive because he wouldn’t tell that bastard a single damn thing, I’m going to make sure you stay alive, no matter what. So, how do we find Erica and Boyd?” Noah snarled and Derek couldn’t help but be amazed at the strength and determination of the man in front of him, it suddenly becoming glaringly obvious just where Stiles got his stubbornness from.

When Noah found out that Isaac was staying with Derek and Peter in the old train yard he’d nearly had a heart attack, insisting that all three of them stay with him until they got somewhere better to live, Isaac and Peter had both agreed before Derek could protest and then he’d found himself in the Stilinski’s empty house, Stiles’ scent still fresh in his bedroom, his books still scattered around his room as if he could reappear at any second. 

Derek inhaled greedily, sitting on the bed with a pillow pressed against his cheek when Noah came in and looked at him sadly. 

“Did he know?” Noah asked and Derek raised an eyebrow in confusion, “How you felt?” 

“No.” Derek said shaking his head and Noah sighed heavily, sitting on the bed next to him. 

“I wish you’d told him, wish he’d known how much you loved him, I think it would have made him happy.” Noah said and Derek scoffed. 

“Happy is not the word I’d use. He only tolerated me for Scott.” Derek whispered. 

“I don’t think that’s true.” Noah muttered, “He cared about you, I know he did, he wouldn’t harbour just any fugitive you know.” Derek couldn’t help the small chuckle that came out at that memory and Noah smiled fondly at the memory of Stiles’ antics. 

It took them another four weeks to find out that there was an Alpha pack in town, that they were the ones holding Erica and Boyd hostage, by this time Stiles’ scent had almost disappeared from his room and Derek hated it. Peter had found them a loft that would provide them with a slightly more permanent residence until they decided what they wanted to do, Derek was sure Isaac was fed up of sleeping on the floor so Derek went along with it, Lydia furnished it and Derek was suddenly glad that he made so much money from his paintings, otherwise he’d have probably had to use some of the insurance money, Noah had looked sad as they were leaving, no doubt not wanting to be by himself in the empty house and Derek had insisted that he come over whenever he wasn’t on shift so they could continue with the plans to try and find Boyd and Erica, Noah had looked a little watery-eyed at that. 

Derek found it odd, going back to the loft in the evenings and finding it filled with pack, Scott, Lydia, Jackson, Noah, Isaac, Peter, Allison and occasionally Chris and Melissa. He hated that it had to be the loss of Stiles that brought them all together. Scott and Allison weren’t seeing each other anymore, apparently just too much had happened between them, Allison’s mom, Stiles, Gerard, there was just too much there and they’d decided it would be better to keep some distance. Neither of them seemed that upset about it, both too consumed with grief for Stiles to think about their relationship, and neither of them seemed to make it awkward for anyone else so Derek wasn’t going to mention it.

When he wasn’t looking for his missing beta’s he’d go to his container, unlocking the door and flicking on the light as he went inside, spending hours painting, his loss almost overwhelming him as he painted his family again, Laura with them, wolves running through the preserve, Stiles’ red hoodie in amongst them, his hand raised as if in triumph as he led the charge against the larger predator that hid in the darkness of the trees. He lost track of time as he painted and it was only when he heard the shuffle of approaching feet, a timid knock on the door and Noah’s steady heartbeat that he broke from his trance and moved towards the doors. 

“Is this where you’ve been?” Noah asked, stepping into the container and studying the paintings for a moment before turning his gaze to Derek who blushed slightly, his hands and arms covered in paint splatters as were his jeans. “You’ve been gone two days. Peter is on the war path, thinking that the Alpha pack took you.” 

“I just lost track of time.” Derek admitted as Noah turned towards the painting that Derek had just finished, signing his work as he always did and taking a picture for Laura’s sake. Noah was lost for words, fingertips reaching out and hovering an inch from the painting, his eyes locked on the red hoodie in amongst the wolves, darting through the trees. 

“You did this?” Noah asked in awe and Derek nodded uncertainly, “It’s beautiful.” He mumbled. 

“You can have it.” Derek offered, watching as Noah caught sight of the name at the bottom of the painting and then did a double take, looking at Derek in surprise.

“You’re wolf?” He laughed when Derek nodded, “Bit obvious isn’t it?” 

“Yeah. I thought so but Laura insisted on it.” Derek replied, Noah looked around at the other stacks of paintings behind him, his eyes automatically drawn to the one of Stiles, Derek felt his heart begin to race uncomfortably in his chest. 

“Did he know? Did he pose for this one?” Noah asked, tracing his fingers over Stiles’ cheeks. 

“Um, no, I just kind of, drew it from memory?” Derek muttered and Noah looked at him in shock for a moment before turning back to the painting. 

“You did it well, you got his eyes right, he always had so much life in his eyes.” Noah said sadly, Derek could smell the grief coming off him in waves until he took a deep breath and got it under control again. “He loved your paintings, I took him to New York last summer, we found one of your paintings and I only managed to get him to leave when we hadn’t eaten, he talked about it all night, about how heart-breaking it was, that you could almost feel the grief and guilt in it, I guess he was right about that.” Noah paused, going back to the painting still drying. “So? Who’s who?” 

“My mom.” Derek said pointing to the dark black wolf near the front of the running pack, “Dad, Laura, Cora, Ellie, my aunty Megan, uncle Steve,” He continued onwards, listing the name of every family member he had lost since the fire, his fingers hovering over Stiles’ form for just a moment, the boy who ran with wolves, he’d never come up with any titles for his own work before, left that to Jody, but suddenly, he knew the painting couldn’t be called anything else. He grabbed a nearby pen and scrawled it hastily along the top of the canvas, Noah reading it for a moment and then welling up again, swallowing back tears. 

“Come on, Peter is worried, we best go back to loft before I get reports of werewolves running riot around the town.” 

“How did you find me?” Derek asked as he pulled on a shirt, covering up most of the paint and going to the entrance, flicking off the light and locking the door behind him.

“If you’re trying to remain anonymous maybe don’t have the container rented in your own name.” Noah teased, bumping their shoulders together slightly and Derek couldn’t help the faint smile on his lips, it reminded him so much of Stiles in that moment. 

“Can you not tell anyone?” Derek asked, “I mean, nobody knows, other than Jody, she’s my agent, Laura found her.” 

“Sure.” Noah nodded, “Your secret is safe with me. Although, if you sell the painting of Stiles it might be a bit obvious to anyone who knows you.” 

“I’m not selling it.” Derek said firmly. 

“Good.” Noah replied. They got back to the loft and Derek couldn’t believe the relief on Peter’s face when they locked eyes, Peter had rushed towards him, pulling him into a hug and holding him tightly before everyone else followed suit.

“Where the hell have you been?” Peter asked and Derek shrugged. 

“I just, erm, lost track of time?” 

“Two days!? You lost time for two days!? Have you eaten?” Peter asked and Derek shrugged.

“I made lasagne?” Allison offered and Derek headed over to the kitchen, plating up a decent sized portion of lasagne and digging in hungrily.


	4. Chapter 4

They all knew the Alpha pack was a danger but when they went after Lydia it had shocked them all, it was only the fact that she’d screamed loudly, incredibly loudly, knocking Kali off her feet that had stopped them from taking her. By the time that Kali was back on her feet the other pack members at the school had run around the corner and apparently even Kali decided it wasn’t a good idea to attack five teenagers where the rest of the students could see.

At present, they were sat in the loft, Lydia evidently freaking out even as Jackson put an arm reassuringly around her shoulder. 

“You screamed and blew her over?” Noah asked arching his eyebrows in disbelief. 

“Yes.” Lydia said firmly. “But I don’t know how, or why?” Peter cleared his throat and looked a little uncertain, Derek flashed his eyes at Peter who nodded and stepped towards Lydia. 

“Before I died I bit you, it was a sort of spell, so that I could tie a piece of my soul to you and you’d be able to bring me back, an insurance policy if my plans didn’t work. But, the spell didn’t work because of me, it worked because of you. Of what you are.”

“What am I?” Lydia asked.

“A banshee.” Peter said abruptly, “At the time I wasn’t sure if you’d have inherited your grandmother’s gift, but I was crazy, I didn’t care if it killed you or not, I just knew if it worked then you’d be able to bring me back and if it didn’t, well, anyway. A banshee isn’t what you think, it’s not a harbinger of death, rather, you have the ability to know if someone is about to die, to scream for their deaths, sometimes even prevent it, and, you’re more than likely going to be the one to find the bodies.” 

“That’s why she found Sti…” Jackson asked, trailing off when Lydia tensed next to him.

“Yes.” Peter confirmed, “But, you can also use your scream as a weapon, your voice as a weapon, that’s what you did today, screamed, blasted Kali away from you, protected yourself.”

“Why did they come after me?” Lydia queried.

“I don’t know.” Peter admitted, “Maybe they intend to try and weaken our pack? Go after the more defenceless members first?” There was silence, the wolves looking nervously at the human members of their pack and then at Derek, they couldn’t lose anyone else, he wouldn’t lose anyone else. 

“Alright, until we manage to get rid of them, I want everyone to stick together as much as possible. Melissa, Scott, Noah, you’re all welcome to stay here, Allison and Chris, the offer is extended to you as well?”

“We’ll be fine, if they get into the house somehow then we’ve got enough weapons to wipe them all out.” Chris reassured him. 

It took another week before the Alpha pack finally slipped up, the Alpha twins, Ethan and Aiden, had been attending the school every day, they’d thankfully been absent when Kali attacked Lydia, Derek was sure things would have ended differently if it had been three Alphas against his pack. Aiden got detention and Ethan had hovered around the school for a while, obviously not wanting to leave without his brother, Jackson had decided to take advantage of that. 

Peter had been teaching Lydia everything he knew about banshees, Lydia wasn’t exactly pleasant with him, or even trusting, not after what he’d done to her, but, she pushed that aside in an attempt to learn, she’d excelled at it, as if Lydia could ever do anything other than excel. So, when Jackson and Lydia came out of the school a few minutes after everyone else and saw Ethan waiting nearby Jackson went straight for him. 

“What the hell do you want?” Jackson growled and Ethan looked at him, then Lydia, nervously. 

“What?” 

“What are you and your pack doing here? What do you want?” Lydia clarified, only slightly calmer than Jackson. 

“That’s none of your business.” Ethan snapped. 

“Really!? Because this is Hale territory and you’re trespassing. Therefore, I’m pretty sure it is our business actually.” 

“Yeah, well I think you’ve got bigger issues than us.” Ethan laughed and Jackson tensed. 

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Jackson said coldly. 

“I would have thought that having the sheriff on your side would have meant he’d tell you the important things, but, obviously, he doesn’t keep you as in the loop as he should, maybe because you got his kid killed.” Ethan smirked and Jackson snarled, his eyes flashing blue as he grabbed Ethan by the collar and hauled him forwards, getting in his face, Ethan only smirked confidently in reply. 

“Don’t you dare, you don’t get to talk about him.” Jackson said passionately and Lydia was a little surprised, she didn’t realise that Jackson had even liked Stiles, never mind apparently cared about him. 

“If I knew you were so easy to piss off I would have tried a little harder. Are you upset you lost a pack member? Or are you just upset because you didn’t protect him? Just like you didn’t protect Erica or Boyd, although at least they’re still alive, you may get the chance to make it up to them.” He laughed and Jackson let go off his jacket, taking a step back and smiling. 

“Thanks.” Lydia smiled widely, “Good to hear they’re still alive, want to tell me where they’re held? That would be really appreciated.” 

“You tricked me.” Ethan said in shock and Lydia’s smile stretched. “You pretended to care about that Stiles kid!?” 

“No.” Jackson growled, “That bit was true. He was a decent guy and hunters murdered him, he died trying to protect those he cared about, so, yeah, I care.”

“You’re all nuts. It won’t make any difference in the long run. You’ll all still die.” 

“We’ll see about that.” Lydia said primly, resting her hand gently on Jackson’s arm and then leading him away. As they were driving across to the loft Lydia turned in her seat to look at Jackson slightly, evidence of her confusion in her scent.

“What?” Jackson asked. 

“Stiles. I thought you couldn’t stand him?” 

“No. I didn’t like the fact he was always running around after you, mainly because I figured that one day you’d realise that you could do so much better than me. Except, then all this happened and Stiles, well…”

“He stopped trying to impress me?” Lydia said in surprise.

“Exactly. I know it’s wrong, that I should have tried to improve my own behaviour, not get so jealous or possessive, but, he just, he always seemed to know what to say, he remembered your birthday when I forgot, he just, he seemed like he was so in love with you and I just wasn’t sure I could compete.” 

“Jackson,” Lydia sighed gently, “There was never going to be any competition, don’t get me wrong, Stiles was nice, when we spoke he always made me feel good, and sometimes you didn’t, but, I love you. I love being with you. As great as Stiles was, there’s never going to be anybody else for me.” 

“I love you too, you know that, right? I know I’m a mess and that I’ve let you down a million times, but I do love you.” 

“I know.” Lydia replied as they pulled up at the loft, heading up the stairs quickly to greet the rest of the pack, thankfully Derek and Noah were both around and Lydia wasted no time in retelling them what Ethan had said. 

“What does he mean about me not telling you important things?” Noah asked and Lydia and Jackson both shrugged. 

“Has anything happened recently? Anyone missing? Dead?” Peter asked. 

“Other than Stiles?” Noah asked coldly and Derek could feel the tension in the room. “Yeah.” He sighed a moment later, running a hand across his face, “But it’s not supernatural and at the moment we’re trying to keep it quiet.” 

“Murder?” Scott asked, sounding so much like Stiles for a second that Noah felt a wave of grief almost overcome him. The downside of living with werewolves had to be that they always knew when the grief hit him, the way they whined and wrinkled their noses, Noah would feel guilty about it, but he didn’t have any control over it, it was like a black cloud that was hovering over him from the instant he woke up and seemed to only get bigger and more suffocating at random points throughout the day. His son was dead, they should just be thankful that instead of hitting the bottle he was putting all of his energy into helping the pack, helping those that Stiles had died to protect. It was the only reason he got up most mornings. 

“Yeah, murder.” Noah confirmed. 

“You’re sure it’s not supernatural?” Isaac asked.

“Well, the victim wasn’t covered in claw marks so I’m going to say no.” Noah replied wearily, he had enough to deal with at work without having to talk about it here as well. 

“Not all supernatural murders involve claw marks.” Chris said. “How did the victim die?” Noah paused, looking at Chris suspiciously, as if he wasn’t sure if he should be discussing it.

“Look, Ethan said that we had bigger issues than the Alpha pack, it’s a possibility that he could have meant whatever killed this person.” Lydia explained. 

“Heather. Her name was Heather; she went to nursery with Stiles.” Noah winced when he said his name and Derek felt another wave of grief from Noah. “She was strangled, her throat slashed and her head bashed in, it’s overkill, but it did the job.” 

“It doesn’t sound supernatural.” Allison said quietly, glancing to her dad for confirmation.

“I’ll look through our records, see if it’s like anything we’ve encountered in the past.” Chris said. 

“I think we still have a few books at the old house, I can bring them here?” Peter suggested and Derek nodded to both of them. 

“Good, let’s do that. Noah could be right and it’s not supernatural, but, let’s make certain.” 

“Stiles would already know.” Scott mumbled sadly and Derek couldn’t help but agree, Stiles would know and if he didn’t he’d spend days researching until he did, but Stiles wasn’t with them anymore and Derek had to lead without his help.

Noah didn’t manage to keep the murder quiet for long, it wasn’t that surprising really, there had been two more bodies appear in the last week and it was evident that this was the work of a serial killer, they didn’t seem to be any closer to figuring out if it was supernatural or not though and Noah was getting more frustrated by the second as the body count increased.

“Haven’t you got someone outside of the pack that you could ask about this?” Noah sighed one evening.

“We could ask Deaton?” Scott suggested.

“I don’t trust Deaton.” Derek replied quietly. 

“Why Deaton? Is he a werewolf too?” Noah asked.

“No. He was our family’s emissary, someone with magical skills that are bound to a pack.” Peter explained when he saw the blank look on Noah’s face, “However, Talia and he had a falling out, mainly over the fact that he was too cryptic, as if he didn’t want us to know what he knew, too secretive, too distrusting. Two weeks later the house burned and I’m not entirely convinced that he couldn’t have done something about it if he’d tried.” 

“So we aren’t going to ask him for help?” Noah clarified. “Isn’t he still your emissary? Like still bound to your pack?” 

“No.” Derek admitted. “He was bound to my mother, once she died the bond broke, he could have rebound himself to Laura but he didn’t, and then, to me, but I don’t want him.” 

“Are you weaker without an emissary? More vulnerable?” 

“No. Having a powerful emissary of course makes a pack more powerful, but, Deaton isn’t all that powerful, and I’d rather have no emissary than one I can’t trust.” 

“Can’t you find a new one?” Allison asked. 

“We could, but, having another magic user in town could piss Deaton off, and, although he’s not that powerful, he’s still got magic and he could challenge the new caster to a duel, no respectable caster wants to duel unnecessarily and they’d probably decide we were more trouble than we’re worth.” Peter explained. 

When Isaac disappeared from the school Derek knew the Alpha pack were behind it, thankfully, Isaac had somehow managed to escape their clutches, although he couldn’t remember where he’d been or how he’d got away. Jackson had snarled when the woman holding onto Isaac’s arm had brought him back to the loft, she wore a lot of leather, dark-skinned with long dark hair, but perhaps her most distinguishing feature was the claw marks across her throat, as if a werewolf had tried and failed to tear her throat out. 

She waited until the door shut behind her before speaking. 

“You’re the Hale pack I assume?”

“Who are you?” Chris asked.

“My name is Braeden, I’m a bounty hunter.” 

“Bounty hunter?” Lydia queried.

“Yep, don’t worry I’m not here for any of you. I’m after the Alpha’s, Deucalion in particular, he pissed off a very important person in Mexico and I’ve been sent to bring his head back, either attached to his body or not.” 

“What?” Scott asked in confusion, obviously not able to process what was happening right now. 

“Deucalion has a price on his head, I’m here to collect it. Now, you want to help me with that?”

“Who wants him dead?” Noah asked. 

“Like I said, he pissed off a powerful person.”

“Powerful supernatural person?” Allison asked. 

“Yep. Very powerful, very supernatural. Not a nice guy at all. Look, we can keep talking about my employer or we can talk about taking Deucalion and his pack down.” Braeden said without hesitation, Derek kind of found the straight-talking kind of appealing. 

“What’s he going to do if you don’t bring him Deucalion’s head?” Peter asked. 

“Probably put me in the ring for a few days, make me sweat then let me go.” 

“The ring?” Jackson asked.

“God, you guys are really out of the loop here, the gladiator rings? There’s four of them down in Mexico, supernatural fights, lots of blood, very little death? They’re very famous, as are the warriors, please don’t tell me you’ve never heard of them?” They all looked blank and Braeden rolled her eyes, “Anyway, my employer owns them, if I fail and yet somehow survive he’ll put me in the ring.” 

“Without your consent?” Noah asked and Braeden shrugged.

“I don’t really think consent is a big issue with him. Can we please talk about Deucalion now? I assume you want him taken care of him? Let me help with that.” Braeden continued. 

Derek wasn’t sure if he could trust her, but, he couldn’t figure out why she’d have any reason to lie, he looked to the rest of the pack, trying to judge their reactions, what they thought, before he sighed heavily, trying not to think about the idea of the gladiator rings, they sounded awful. 

“Alright, how can you help us?” Derek asked and Braeden grinned wickedly. 

With Braeden’s help they managed to find out that the Alpha pack were hiding in the abandoned bank and within a few days they’d hatched a plan, a way to free Erica and Boyd, getting them back was Derek’s priority, if Deucalion died in the meantime, great, but it was more important he got his beta’s home safely. 

The plan went to hell within ten minutes, he’d not accounted for the fact that not only were Erica and Boyd in the vault, but so was Cora, his sister, his sister who died in the fire, he had barely processed the fact she was alive when suddenly all three of them were attacking him, driven mad by moon fever. 

He wasn’t sure that he’d ever remember how he got out of the vault or how he managed to call and explain the situation to Chris who came up with the idea to drive the betas towards the empty school. 

He hadn’t expected to hear the heartbeat of another person in the school and, when it came from the same room that he’d just locked three feral wolves in he’d growled in despair before throwing himself in after them and telling Noah to stay and guard the door. 

He’d been nearly torn apart before Scott, Jackson and Isaac had come bursting through the door and thankfully managed to subdue the betas before they killed Derek and the woman that had been hiding in there, Derek walked over towards her afterwards, holding out a hand to help her to her feet, the look of terror clear on her features, her eyes wide with innocence and Derek could feel himself being drawn in. 

Peter and Noah helped the other wolves take the unconscious wolves back to the loft while Chris, Allison, Lydia and Melissa did their best to cover up any evidence of what had happened here, Derek walked the woman out to her car.

“My name’s Jennifer. I teach here.” She explained, she sounded a little like she was in shock, “What are you? I mean, you’re not human, are you?” She asked. 

“Werewolf.” Derek explained, staring at her, tracking the movement of her tongue over her lips, it reminded him so much of Stiles that it hurt. “I’m Derek.” He added, wishing he could hit himself and shut up, not entirely sure why he had even spoken in the first place. 

“Well, Derek the werewolf, thanks for saving my life.” Jennifer replied, giving him a small timid smile and then getting into her car and driving off. 

Erica, Boyd and Cora were waiting for him when he got back to the loft, Cora throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly for what felt like hours before she finally let go. They were all exhausted but he could see that Erica and Boyd wanted to speak to him, he thought he knew what it would be about. 

“One of the twins,” Erica began, looking at Noah with worry, “He said, he told us that Stiles died? That the hunters killed him?” Derek clenched his jaw and nodded, feeling like his heart was being crushed in an iron fist at those words. 

“What happened?” Noah asked, his voice shaking, “What happened with Gerard? What did they do to him?” 

“Noah…” Melissa whispered quietly, she wasn’t sure it was a good idea for Noah to hear what happened, not if it would only upset him. 

“I need to know.” Noah pressed and Boyd glanced at Erica and then Derek who nodded. 

“They brought him down to the basement, he was talking, telling Gerard that Scott would be able to track him, that he had better start running because the pack would be coming any second. Gerard hit him, Stiles went to fight back and the two goons behind him held him in place, Gerard kept hitting him, asking him for information, screaming at him to just tell them what he knew.” Boyd explained. 

“He didn’t, wouldn’t, point blank refused to, even when he was coughing up blood. We tried, we tried to help him, tried to get free, tried to do something, but we couldn’t, there was nothing we could do.” Erica whispered guiltily, “They just kept hitting him, sometimes with their fists, sometimes with whatever was closest, sometimes just slicing into his skin with a knife, I heard his bones snapping, he was screaming, we,” She coughed, clearing her throat as best as she could, “We just had to watch, were powerless to do anything else, it became obvious that Stiles wasn’t going to tell them anything, he just kept telling them that there was no chance he was going to betray his pack like that, that he’d see them in hell. I was so sure you were coming, I thought you’d be there any second.” 

“One of the goons kicked him in the head and he just went limp, I could still hear his heart beating, but he was out cold, Gerard told them to finish the job, take him out to the preserve and make sure they left the body somewhere for the pack to find. They took him out of the basement, and Gerard grinned following after them. We hoped that you’d attacked them upstairs, taken care of them, but, you never came and Chris let us out and we picked up Stiles’ scent and we started after them but then the Alpha pack grabbed us, and, well, you know the rest.” 

“We’re so sorry Sheriff.” Erica sniffed, “We should have done more.” 

“You couldn’t have done any more.” Noah replied stiffly, “Thank you for telling me what happened. Thank you for being with him.” Erica burst into tears at that and Boyd put an arm around her shoulder, comforting her as she struggled to get control of herself. 

“I thought he was amazing.” Erica confessed, “I know it’s no comfort, but, he was brave, he was strong, he wouldn’t back down, and I know that doesn’t help, but, he was, he was incredible. I’m sorry for your loss, but, you would have been so proud of him.” 

“Gerard said the same thing.” Noah scoffed and Erica blushed brightly. 

“I’m sorry.” Erica whispered.

“No. It’s nicer coming from you, you mean it.” Noah replied. “You knew him, better than Gerard did, so, you know, I appreciate that you,” Noah stopped to clear his throat, fight back the wave of grief that was threatening to overwhelm him after hearing what his son had suffered through before the end, “Thanks for telling me.” He said simply.


	5. Chapter 5

The next few days were insanely busy, Derek was trying to catch up with Cora, trying to find out where she had been, what she’d been doing in the seven years since the fire, apparently, she’d been out in wolf form when the fire started and had just started running, never looking back. Derek told her about everything that had happened, about Laura, about Peter, about Stiles, about the adventures they’d had, that it was all gone now. Cora had been understandably upset about Laura’s death, and the fact that it had been at Peter’s hands made it worse, she’d managed to stay in control though which was probably the most that Derek could ask for. 

Erica and Boyd had decided it would be better to stay at the loft until the Alpha pack were taken care of, at least that way they wouldn’t have to go and explain to their parents where they had been, only to have to run out again at any possible moment, Noah agreed it was sensible and Derek nodded in agreement. 

Braeden had been gone the entire time and Derek wasn’t sure if she was coming back, or if she had her own plan, all that mattered to him was that he had his betas back and he had his sister back, now he just needed to make sure they stayed safe. 

Derek should have realised it was a trap, should have been smart enough to figure that out, Stiles would have realised, way before any of them. Instead he was facing off against a pack of Alphas and he knew that no matter how well his pack fought, in all likelihood some of them weren’t going to make it out of here. 

Ennis charged forwards and Derek snarled, his eyes flashing red as he roared and charged straight at him, almost getting knocked backwards by the force of the impact as they collided. He could hear the roars from the rest of his pack as they charged forwards, determined to fight alongside their Alpha, but his mind was solely on the huge Alpha in front of him, Ennis was strong, fast and cocky, Derek hoped to use that to his advantage. 

He could hear gunshots ringing out, shattering the glass of shop windows as they missed their targets, could hear the muttered curse of Noah as he reloaded and took aim again, Derek hadn’t wanted him here, hadn’t wanted any of the humans here, hadn’t wanted any of the wolves here, but that was the issue with a trap, they hadn’t known what they were walking into and now Chris and Allison were fighting back to back, Melissa was standing nervously next to Lydia, a gun in her hand but seemingly with no idea how to use it, Noah standing a little in front of them as Deucalion charged straight for them. 

Scott, Jackson and Isaac were busy with Kali, barely dodging out of the way of her claws, Peter, Cora and Boyd were grappling with Ethan and looking to be losing, Aiden was running circles around Chris and Allison, dodging out of the way of every shot they took and getting closer every second, Erica was lying on the ground, her leg healing slowly from where Deucalion had clawed her, she tried standing but kept falling back down a snarl on her lips. Lydia was distracted, screaming deafeningly as Jackson took a clawed foot to the chest and hit the ground hard, the scream knocked Kali off her feet and Lydia rushed over towards Jackson as Scott and Isaac took advantage of the situation. 

Derek dodged another of Ennis’ flying fists, he was wild, Derek would win this because he was in control, he could beat him, he was sure of that. He could see what was about to happen, but he couldn’t do anything, couldn’t get close enough to do anything, Deucalion was closing in and Noah was out of bullets. 

Derek snarled, charging straight at Ennis, ignoring the fact that he was giving the other wolf a serious advantage, he had to get to Noah and Melissa, he had to protect them. Ennis wrapped massive arms around him and hauled him off his feet, swinging him around like a rag doll and throwing him into the nearest wall. 

Derek shook his head from the impact, trying to get back to his feet and help his pack, watching helplessly as everything slowed down, as Melissa shot at Deucalion and he snatched her wrist, twisting her arm until she dropped the gun and then continued, a smirk on his lips as the bone snapped and Melissa cried out in pain.

“Mom!” Scott roared, doing his best to extract himself from the fight with Kali, Derek could see it was too late, Deucalion would kill her before they got anywhere near. Noah slammed into Deucalion, tackling him to the floor as he released Melissa from his grip, Noah was on top for only a second and then Deucalion threw him off with ease, sending Noah backwards and then getting to his feet and pinning Noah down. Derek struggled to his feet, Ennis was already grinning at him, blocking his path, Derek flashed his eyes, growled and charged. 

It happened in an instant, Derek saw Deucalion bite down on Noah’s shoulder, heard him shout out in pain, heard his pack all cry out a denial, struggling to get away from the other Alpha’s to get to Noah, and then Ennis had driven a hand into his stomach, the claws tearing through him, Derek stared at him in shock, grabbing onto Ennis as he started to fall backwards, eyes going wide when there was nothing behind him and they toppled over the edge. There was a moment, where he locked eyes with Peter, saw him take a step towards them his eyes wide with disbelief, but then it was too late, they were falling. 

Derek hit the ground hard, slamming into something and losing consciousness immediately. 

“Derek!” Peter cried out, feeling his Alpha’s pain the instant Ennis’ fist connected, he rushed forward, knowing he was going to be too late, already seeing them begin to fall, knowing he wasn’t going to reach them, but he had to try. His eyes widened in horror as Derek fell, as he vanished from view with Ennis falling after him, there were startled gasps from behind him and Peter wasn’t sure if was his pack or the Alpha pack, all he knew was that Derek had fallen. He ran to the edge, looking down and seeing the two motionless bodies lying on the escalators, he couldn’t hear any heartbeats, his own heart beating too loudly in his ears. 

Kali and Ethan moved towards the stairs down and Peter back away, without Derek they had no Alpha, they couldn’t fight off the Alpha pack, they had to retreat, it was the only option, he realised the rest of the pack were thinking the same thing, helping the injured to their feet and slowly backing towards the exit. 

Peter felt awful leaving Derek’s body there but he had to protect the pack as best as he could, they needed to come up with a plan. Noah was on his feet, leaning heavily on Melissa who had tears down her cheeks and was holding her arm awkwardly, the bite wound in his shoulder obvious for all of them to see, Scott hurried across to her, checking she wasn’t hurt anywhere else before turning to Noah and looking at the bite with worry. 

They were all hurt in some way or another, blood covering their clothes, wounds beginning to knit slowly back together, Peter backed them towards the exit, never breaking eye contact with the Alpha’s who were standing a few meters away from them, their expressions grim. Peter felt the wind at his back meaning someone had got the door open, and then, finally they were out in the fresh air, Peter slammed the doors shut and turned to look at the rest of the pack.

“Derek?” Cora asked weakly. 

“He fell.” Peter replied. 

“Is he…did he…did you see if he’s…”

“I think so.” Peter admitted, “I couldn’t hear a heartbeat.” The whole pack howled in agony and Peter shivered, they needed to get out of here, get somewhere safe, heal, regroup.

Derek blinked his eyes open slowly, he could hear the approaching rush of feet and looked to see the entire Alpha pack coming towards him, he managed to stagger to his feet, holding a hand to his stomach to try and stop the bleeding, he was hurt and there was no way he could take even one of the Alpha’s right now, it was more important that he find his pack, he prayed that they hadn’t been slaughtered, he wouldn’t survive that. His legs gave out when he tried to move and he half collapsed to the ground, he snarled and pushed himself upwards again, stumbling away from where Ennis still lay unmoving, thankfully none of the Alpha’s pursued him.

It felt like hours before he managed to make his way back upstairs, there was no sign of his pack and he could smell that they left the building, he almost collapsed in relief, they were still alive. He’d made it half-way across the car park when he caught another scent, one he vaguely recognised, the bleeding wasn’t slowing down and Derek was quickly losing the determination to keep him upright. 

“Derek!” Jennifer said in surprise, taking in his appearance and looking at him in terror, “Come on, get in the car, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No hospital.” Derek managed to growl out as he slid into the front seat and his eyes closed against his will. 

When he opened his eyes, he was lying on a soft bed and looking up at a ceiling fan that was spinning quietly above the bed. 

“How are you feeling?” Jennifer asked from nearby and Derek turned to look at her, he felt fuzzy, dizzy, like all of his senses had been dulled. “Are you in pain? Do you want some water? What happened? Is anyone else hurt?” She asked and Derek smiled fondly, she reminded him a lot of Stiles, the way she rambled slightly, the innocence in her expression. 

“I’m fine.” He said, he was very far from fine, he needed to get to his pack, check they were all okay, that none of them had been injured. He went to sit up and Jennifer placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him in place and then she was kissing him, her lips pressed against his, Derek pulled away in surprise, jerking backwards and wincing in pain as his injuries were jostled. 

“Hey, it’s okay.” Jennifer said softly, stroking the side of his cheek tenderly and gazing at him, “You’re okay.” Derek felt himself relax, his body drain of tension, he knew there was something wrong, that he needed to get back to his pack, but, he couldn’t, he looked at Jennifer, feeling a sudden rush of love towards her, love that made total sense and suddenly he was kissing her back hungrily, greedily, wanting to taste her, burying his head in the crook of her neck and needing to have skin-on-skin contact with her. “That’s it Derek, just like that.” She mumbled and Derek kept kissing her, all thoughts of his pack pushed to the back of his mind. 

‘Dude, get a grip, she’s mojo-ing you.’ Stiles’ voice drifted through his mind and Derek stilled, thoughts of Stiles flooding through his mind, the way he threw his head back when he laughed too loudly, or how he sprawled across his entire bed when he slept, the covers tangled around his legs, tripping over when he tried to get up to quickly and the sheets entrapping him, the way he blushed at the most random moments, the way he looked at his dad with such worry, his dad, Noah, Noah had been bitten, Derek had to get to him. 

He sat up suddenly, throwing Jennifer off him, getting to his feet and stumbling to the door as Jennifer let out a grunt of surprise as she hit the floor. 

“Derek! Derek! Wait!” She called after him but he was already throwing the door open and staggering down the stairs, his head clearing with every step he took away from the apartment, his mind flooding with thoughts of his pack, how could he so easily forget about them? How could he so easily forget about Stiles? Except, he didn’t, forget Stiles that is, Stiles’ voice was the one that brought him back to reality and it had sounded exactly like him, as if he was in the room with them, that wasn’t possible though, Stiles was dead. At that thought any vestiges of confusion left him, Stiles was dead. That was one undeniable unchangeable fact. He needed to get to his pack, to Noah, Stiles’ father needed to survive. 

By the time he got back to the loft he was exhausted, Jennifer had at least cleaned off most of the blood and he’d managed to get through the town without drawing too much attention, clenching a hand against his stomach that was still bleeding. He stared up at the building in front of him, wondering how the hell he was going to find the strength to get up the stairs, suddenly the front door was shoved open and Allison and Peter came running towards him.

“You’re alive! Oh my god you’re alive!” Peter almost sobbed with relief, checking Derek for injuries and then quickly supporting him, Allison coming around his other side so that they could steer him into the building. 

“Is everyone okay?” Derek asked and Allison tensed. “What? What happened?” 

“Everyone’s alive.” Peter said in reassurance.

“Noah?” 

“So far he’s okay, we’ll know for definite soon, he’ll either survive the change or he won’t.” Allison confirmed and Derek nodded, gritting his teeth as he tried to move, it was the best they could offer, he prayed Noah survived, he didn’t want this, would never want this, but, Noah had to survive, and if that meant he became a werewolf then that was okay with him. 

When he entered the loft, everyone turned to look at him, looking at him with worry, most of them were still covered in blood, Noah was sat on the sofa, looking a little pale and clammy but otherwise okay, the bite mark on his shoulder glaringly obvious, Melissa was clutching her arm tightly, tear tracks on her cheeks, she was refusing to go to the hospital until she knew that Noah was going to be okay. Erica and Jackson were both lying on the floor nearby, they’d taken a few hard hits and would probably need a few days before they were fully recovered, the rest of his pack looked to be almost completely intact and Derek almost collapsed with relief. 

Thankfully, the bite took, and as soon as they were sure that Noah would survive he’d insisted that Scott, Isaac and Cora take Melissa to the hospital, none of them really wanted to split up but they had to get Melissa seen to as she didn’t heal like them and it was better she went with a group than by herself.

Derek explained to the others what had happened, how he’d stumbled out of the mall and found Jennifer outside, how he’d passed out and woke up in her bed, how she’d kissed him, how he’d felt weird, that he’d wanted to come back to the pack and then she’d kissed him and he’d forgotten all about them.

“You heard Stiles?” Lydia asked in confusion.

“Not him, not really, it was just his voice, how I remember his voice, how he sounded, he was telling me that she was doing some weird mojo thing on me and then I thought about him, about Noah, and suddenly everything became clearer again and I managed to get back here.” Derek confessed.

“Mojo like magic mojo?” Boyd asked and Derek shrugged.

“I guess?” Derek replied, watching as his quiet beta moved over to the table and started rummaging through the books that were piled there. 

“I read something, in one of these, about something called a Darach?” Boyd offered, “It’s like, erm, dark magic? But, I’m sure there was something about sacrifice? I couldn’t find much more than that…” He mumbled, flicking through the pages quickly before stopping, “Here, ‘A Darach is a user of dark magic, originally a druid that went down the wrong path,’” Boyd paused, flicking the page again, “Then here it says about ‘the opportunity to increase power can arise with the relevant sacrifices.’ I mean, I thought it meant like, giving up soda for the rest of your life, but, maybe it means human sacrifices? Do you think?”

“It’s definitely possible.” Peter agreed, “We should look up everything we can find on what a Darach actually is, what sacrifices they make and what the plan might be in the long run.” 

Braeden returned a few days later, she wouldn’t talk about where she’d been, only that she’d been on a job and that it had paid a lot better than the one with Deucalion, now that it had been taken care of she was free to return to the original job. As it happened it was also what would have been Stiles’ seventeenth birthday and to say that the pack weren’t handling it brilliantly would be an understatement, Noah had impeccable control, his anchor had been instantaneous, it was Stiles, would always be Stiles, his laughter, his warmth, his strength and bravery, it was protecting what Stiles had died to protect, it was making his son proud of him, it was making sure that none of them had to lose anything again. Derek couldn’t help but be impressed, couldn’t help but wish he had the same kind of control, because every time he thought of Stiles his wolf just howled, whined with grief and pain and despair, it hurt, it hurt so much that Derek could barely breathe. But today, having that anchor, well, it didn’t help Noah, it just reminded him of the fact that he’d never get to see Stiles again, never get to see him smile, never get to see his son reach seventeen, or eighteen, or twenty-one, never get to scold him again, it meant that Noah was pacing restlessly around the loft as the rest of them tried to find as much information about the Darach as they could, it meant that Braeden kept shooting glances at Derek and then at Noah in confusion.

“It’s Stiles’ birthday.” Scott explained eventually, his voice sounding broken, the raw grief there still evident for them all to hear. 

“Who’s Stiles?” Braeden asked innocently. 

“He was Noah’s son.” Erica replied tightly, “He was pack member. He was a friend. He was murdered by hunters over summer.” Braeden shook her head. 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She muttered, it was enough for Derek, he couldn’t stand to be here any longer, not when the whole room stank of pain and loss and grief. He rolled his shoulders and headed to the door, already half-way out the front door by the time Braeden caught up with him, her hand resting gently on his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t.” Derek growled.

“Stiles was pack?” She asked and Derek nodded, “He was important? To the pack?” She continued and Derek nodded again.

“He was important to me. I let him down.” Derek said, shrugging off her hand and running straight for the preserve, half-shifted before he’d even reached the first tree.

In the end, it wasn’t a surprise to find out that not only was Jennifer the Darach but that she was the one responsible for the twelve deaths in Beacon Hills in the past three months. It was a surprise to find out that she had been Kali’s emissary and she had turned to dark magic to survive when Kali had left her half-dead after murdering her own pack. Derek couldn’t understand how any Alpha could ever harm their own pack, not with the bonds in place, even now Derek could feel the sharp pain of where Stiles’ bond had been, sometimes it dulled to a throbbing ache, but, at the most random times, it sharpened and burned and felt like a spear was being shoved through his chest, he couldn’t imagine feeling that for every member of his pack, couldn’t imagine being the one to cause it. 

Protecting Jennifer from the Alpha pack in the hopes of rescuing Melissa, Chris and Noah was something he’d never thought he’d do, the three of them had come to matter enormously to the pack and Derek didn’t know how he’d manage without them, so, yeah, he’d help protect this bitch if it meant he might get them back. When she double-crossed them and escaped Derek couldn’t exactly say he was surprised, but he was furious, he was going to kill her, tear her throat out, watch as the light left her eyes, instead he was left to deal with a slightly depleted Alpha pack, Ennis was dead, Ethan and Aiden looked to be on the sidelines, waiting to see if Deucalion could actually pull this off before they chose his side, Derek had none of that uncertainty from his own pack, Scott, Isaac, Peter, Cora, Jackson, Erica and Boyd were stood on either side of him, roaring at Kali and Deucalion, Lydia and Allison were stood slightly behind, Allison with her bow drawn and a look of anger on her features, Lydia ready to scream as soon as necessary. Braeden had disappeared part way through their fight in the hospital but Derek had come to expect nothing more from her, she wasn’t trustworthy, he knew that much, if his death came at the right price then she’d shoot him through the chest without a second thought. 

“Go after her!” Derek snarled, if they lost Jennifer they’d lose Noah, Melissa and Chris, that couldn’t be allowed to happen. 

Peter nodded tightly, taking Erica and Isaac with him and then Deucalion charged and Derek roared and the fight began in earnest. He’d love to say that the Alpha’s realised they wouldn’t win this fight, that they turned and ran when given the option, but it turned out Kali had cared deeply for Ennis and she wouldn’t allow his murderer to live while she still had breath in her lungs, Derek felt sad about that, but not sad enough to die because of it. He nearly did, would have done if it hadn’t have been for Boyd and Jackson’s perfect timing, slamming into her and tackling her to the ground, she threw the younger wolves off her and just as she was staggering to her feet Derek tore through her throat, his claws dripping with blood as she collapsed to the floor a look of surprise on her features.

Deucalion had called to Ethan and Aiden for back-up, told them to attack, Aiden had met Derek’s eyes and then, surprisingly, gripped his brother’s arm and steered him from the room, looking at Derek with a silent apology and then disappearing from view. Lydia had smirked when Deucalion realised that, no matter how powerful he was as an Alpha, he was now hugely outnumbered, seven to one.

“Leave now and we’ll let you live.” Derek growled and Deucalion’s lips twitched upwards. 

“I don’t trust your word.” 

“You should.” Derek replied, “I don’t want to kill you, not unnecessarily. Leave now and you can live out the rest of your life without looking over your shoulder for us.” 

Braeden chose that moment to reappear, standing behind Deucalion, a gun aimed steadily at his heart, Deucalion turned to look at her, well, turn his gaze in her direction, Derek could never really be sure how blind Deucalion was.

“You’re Marcus’ little bitch, aren’t you?” Deucalion sneered.

“He sends his regards.” Braeden said, pulling the trigger as Derek shouted out a cry of denial and Deucalion collapsed lifelessly to the ground. Braeden took his head, Derek had always thought it was a metaphorical kind of thing, but, no, it was literal, she literally took his head off, shoved it into a bag, gave him a wink and then turned around and strode off, he wasn’t even going to consider how she was going to get that past the border. 

He called Peter as soon as Braeden had left and thankfully they’d managed to track Jennifer, although there was no sign of the other three adults and Scott and Allison looked at him in worry. They ran to meet up with the others, finding Jennifer in an abandoned warehouse, safe in a circle of mountain ash, surprisingly Deaton was with her, but considering the fact he was tied up and gagged Derek didn’t think it was willingly, the vet hadn’t been much help with the whole situation, Derek couldn’t exactly blame him, Derek didn’t trust him, Deaton didn’t think Derek was ready to be an Alpha, Derek agreed with him, he probably wasn’t, but since there was no other choice, the only option was that he do the best he could.

“Where are they?” Derek growled, he understood why Jennifer had taken Melissa and Chris, but Noah, well Noah didn’t have his son anymore and that thought tore a hole through Derek’s chest. 

“Let me leave and I’ll tell you where they are.” Jennifer said, Lydia scowled at her and marched forward, determined to break the barrier separating them, Jennifer threw a hand out and Lydia went flying backwards, Jackson managing to grab her before she hit the ground. Derek snarled, he would not allow anyone else to hurt a member of his pack, not again, he took a step towards the barrier and Jennifer smirked, knowing he wouldn’t be able to pass through it, he felt the magic begin to push him away and pushed against it, he thought of Stiles, of how he’d let him down, of how he had to protect Noah, that Stiles would have died to protect his father if that had been an option, that Derek had to do his best for all of them, that he couldn’t quit, couldn’t run away, had to be here and stay here and prove to them that he would do everything in his power to protect them. He snarled, pressing harder against the barrier, his eyes going red, his fangs descending, his claws coming out as he pushed with everything he had against the magical barrier. 

Jennifer’s features were marred with fear for the first time and Derek felt satisfaction at that, the magic pushed back again with renewed strength, determined to push Derek backwards, obviously Derek was stubborn, probably too stubborn, but he couldn’t let anything else happen to his pack and he knew that if he allowed Jennifer to leave she would kill Melissa, Chris and Noah, she was a liar and a murderer, he couldn’t trust her with their lives. 

He felt it the moment the barrier broke, there was an odd popping noise and then the magic that had been forcing him backwards faded, the ash surrounding her blew in the wind and Jennifer looked at him in something akin to awe before he wrapped his clawed hand around her throat and lifted her feet from the floor. 

“Tell me where they are.” He snarled, ignoring the prominent silence of the pack behind him, he knew that he shouldn’t have been able to do what he’d just done, he didn’t know what it meant but he wasn’t going to dwell on it for now, he could think about it later, once his pack were all safe. 

Jennifer was turning bright red as she gasped for air and Derek loosened his grip just slightly. 

“The nemeton.” She gasped out, sucking in a deep breath. “They’re under the nemeton.” 

“Scott? Do you know where that it?” Derek growled without breaking eye contact with Jennifer. 

“Yeah, yeah we do.” Scott nodded, his voice breaking slightly before clearing his throat again, “We’ll go now.” 

“Good. Go.” Derek agreed, watching as Scott, Allison and Isaac sped out of the warehouse, the roar of a car starting up a moment later and then the squeal of breaks as they sped out of the car park. “If you’re lying, I’ll kill you.” 

“Derek, Derek please, I’m not lying, I had to, I needed to be powerful enough to defeat the Alpha pack.” 

“The Alpha pack is destroyed, their leader is dead, they are no threat to anyone again.” Peter snapped from nearby.

“Derek, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know, I didn’t.” Jennifer insisted, Derek flashed his eyes at her again and Jennifer silenced, he glanced to his left over his shoulder and saw Cora and Erica untying Deaton slowly, the man looking at them gratefully, rubbing at his sore wrists and then staring at Derek with wide eyes. They stood in silence for another ten minutes, all of them eyeing Jennifer warily, Derek refusing to remove his claws from her throat even as she sobbed, until, finally, Lydia’s phone rang. 

“We’ve got them.” Allison said tearfully, “They’re alive, they’re all alive.” Derek felt the tension in the room dissipate and let go of Jennifer, unable to believe that they had somehow survived the Alpha pack, that they were all still safe. 

“Derek!” Boyd shouted out in warning and Derek had just enough time to turn as Jennifer smirked at him and he was blasted backwards off his feet. He sat up slowly, his ears ringing, looking around at the rest of his pack that were all stirring sluggishly on the floor, Jennifer was standing over Jackson, rooting around in her bag and pulling out a small amount of powder, Derek didn’t know what it was for or what she was planning but he knew it couldn’t be good. 

Jennifer started to chant and Jackson tensed, his entire body seizing and letting out such a whimper of pain that Derek felt his chest ache with the need to protect him. Lydia practically threw herself over Jackson in an effort to protect him and Derek roared, charging at her, tackling her to the ground as the powder flew from her hand and into the air and she let out a cry of denial. 

Derek didn’t waste time trying to talk her around, he twisted her head viciously, hearing her neck snap and then her heart stop, he knew he should feel guilty about that but he couldn’t find it in himself, she’d threatened his pack, she was a threat, she would have always been a threat.

“Jack,” Lydia was whimpering, stroking his face tenderly, “Jackie, Jackson, look at me.” Lydia tried, Derek moved over to them, crouching down next to Jackson who looked to be in some kind of trance, the rest of the pack were surrounding them, looking at Jackson with worry. Derek reached out and brushed his fingers over Jackson’s cheek and suddenly Jackson gasped for breath and sat up, Lydia wrapped her arms around his neck and he clung onto her tightly, sobs that he couldn’t hold back getting lost in her hair. 

“What happened?” Peter asked a few minutes later and Jackson nuzzled his nose into Lydia’s neck, taking deep breaths. 

“I was, I was that thing again, I couldn’t stop myself, couldn’t control myself, had to watch as she made me kill you all and when I came back to myself, you were all lying dead at my feet, my hands covered in your blood.” Jackson admitted and Derek crowded in behind him, holding him just as tightly as Lydia was, until, by the time Scott and the others arrived back, it had descended into a huge pack hug with Jackson at the centre. 

Deaton explained it later that evening, how he believed that the powder Jennifer had, along with the chant she had begun, had started the process to turn Jackson back into the Kanima, to strip him of his belief that he finally had people who cared about him, that if Lydia and Derek hadn’t acted as quickly as they had, Jennifer would have succeeded and Jackson would have been lost to them. 

Derek felt such sorrow for Jackson, he’d never really thought about it before, he’d been too wrapped up in his grief for Stiles, but, Jackson had been used against his will, used to kill people, to threaten people. As much as Derek hated what he’d done, how Kate had used him to kill his family, he hadn’t been the one to start the fire, he hadn’t been the one to physically kill them, and as much as he felt the guilt for his part in it, he wasn’t sure he could ever understand the guilt that Jackson was dealing with now. Still he had to try.


	6. Chapter 6

For a little while things settled, Deaton was still as cryptic and unhelpful as ever and Derek could imagine the frustrated sounds that Stiles would make when Deaton, again, provided them with no helpful information. Apparently, Derek being able to break through the ash barrier was quite a rarity, it would suggest that he was a True Alpha, one that was willing to put his own pack before everything else, Derek had snorted at the very idea of it, any Alpha who wasn’t willing to put their pack before everything else wasn’t any kind of Alpha in his mind, he was almost certain that Deaton was making the whole thing up in an attempt to get on Derek’s good side. 

“Apparently, True Alpha’s are a thing.” Melissa said one night a few weeks later, holding out the book for Derek to see. Derek read through the passage silently, it agreed with what Deaton had said but Derek didn’t see how it made any difference, other than the fact that apparently True Alpha’s were quite rare, it didn’t make any difference to him or how he would try and manage things. 

Noah had never really left, after the bite had taken, he’d struggled in his own home and Derek had offered him a place to stay, for as long as he wanted, with Noah came Melissa, Scott had grinned his smile tinged with sadness when Melissa and Noah decided to tell them all that they were an item.

“Stiles always said you two were going to get together, I’m just, I wish he could know how happy you are.” Scott mumbled, tears forming in all their eyes as Noah pulled Scott into a tight hug, his eyes flashing bright blue for a moment. 

That had been a completely different conversation, explaining what the difference in their eye colours meant, how Peter’s and Jackson’s and even Derek’s eyes had been blue before he was an Alpha, how the rest of the pack still had golden eyes. The four of them had sat on the sofa’s around the living room, Jackson fiddling nervously with the bottom of his jumper and Derek feeling like something had lodged itself in his throat as he tried to speak, to explain, instead Peter had been the one to roll his eyes at Derek’s actions and then studied Noah carefully before beginning.

“It means we feel the guilt of killing an innocent.” Peter had explained the second night after Noah turned. “Mine were blue when I came back, but I imagine, if I hadn’t been an Alpha, that they would have blue the instant I killed Laura.” 

“But, you were crazy?” Noah whispered, the confusion evident in his voice, “I mean, you weren’t in control of your actions, and Jackson, well, somebody was controlling him every time he was forced to kill.” 

“Yes, but, we feel the guilt of those deaths.” Peter continued, “Could we have done things differently? Probably not, but do we still feel responsible? Without a doubt. There are plenty of werewolves out there who have murdered innocents and still walk around with golden eyes because they don’t feel guilty. Our blue eyes show that, yes, we have killed, but that we will always feel the guilt from it. We shouldn’t be ashamed of them.” Noah looked at Peter with wide eyes. 

“That actually makes sense.” Noah nodded, “I mean, I’ve killed people, had to, in the line of duty, and I feel guilty about every single one, thinking if I’d just made a different choice, acted differently, done something sooner or later or not at all, but, it had to be done. Doesn’t make me feel any less guilty though.” He glanced across at Derek. “Why are your eyes blue?” He asked and Derek took a deep breath, he knew the question was coming, but, trying to explain it, it was going to be hard. 

“There was a girl, when I was at high school, I was in love with her, and, I became convinced that she would make a great werewolf, that if she knew about what we were, we could be completely honest with each other, Ennis bit her, I’d changed my mind by that point, didn’t want her to be bitten, didn’t want her to go through the pain of the change, except, it didn’t matter, it was too late by then. She wasn’t going to survive the bite, I ended her suffering, she thanked me beforehand, but, it doesn’t make it any better, I still killed her.” Derek confessed, “Then, well, then I met Kate and I was so broken and so confused, and I just, she used me, and if my eyes weren’t blue before, they would have been blue by the time she was done.” 

“You and Kate?” Peter growled and Derek tensed, he’d always thought his uncle had had his suspicions, but Derek had never confirmed it, not until now, until now, as far as he knew, Stiles had been the only one to know the truth, other than Laura, and now they were both dead. “That bitch!” Peter snapped, his eyes flashing blue, “I should have known, I should have seen it, Jesus Christ Derek! You were sixteen! She would have been, what? Twenty-two? Twenty-three?” 

“Twenty-four.” Derek mumbled. 

“How could I have been so stupid? How could I not have realised?” Peter said, running a hand through his hair in agitation, “I’m, god, of course you’d feel guilt for that Derek, but, you did nothing wrong.” Peter fixed him with an intense glare, “She murdered our family, she took advantage of a confused, hurt, grieving, teenage boy, it is in no way your fault. Not then, not now, not ever.” He sounded so much like Laura had that it made Derek bite his lip in an attempt to fend off the tears and then suddenly Peter was hugging him, wrapping himself around him so tightly it hurt and Derek couldn’t help but hug him back, holding him until the tears started to fall, until his chest ached with trying to hold back his grief and his fear and his pain. 

The rest of the pack appeared from one place or another and before Derek had realised what was happening he was at the centre of a large pile of his pack, all of them offering him whatever comfort they could, even if they didn’t fully understand why. After that night Derek had oddly felt a little better, he still felt the guilt, he still felt a heavy burden on his shoulders, but, somehow, knowing that Peter knew, that he forgave him for it, despite everything he’d lost in the fire, it made things a little easier, telling Cora had been hard, and she’d barely spoken to him for a week, until, eventually she admitted that she was angry at him, but only because he hadn’t spoken to any of them about it, that he’d carried around this weight, this guilt, for so long and it wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t have done anything about it, even if he had realised Kate’s plan, she probably would have killed him before he had a chance to warn any of the others. 

When Ethan and Aiden showed up on his doorstep Derek was taken aback, he wasn’t sure what the hell they were here for and he flashed his eyes at them, his surprise growing when both their eyes flashed back at him, bright blue instead of the usual Alpha red. 

“We would like to stay in town.” Ethan confessed, “We know we can’t be part of your pack, that there is too much that’s happened, but, we’d like the resident Alpha’s permission to stay in his territory.” 

“Why?” Derek asked and Ethan blushed. 

“I met a guy at school, he’s nice to me, in a way that I haven’t felt in a long time, I want to get to know him better.” 

“I meant why are you asking my permission? Why aren’t you Alpha’s any longer?” Derek asked and Ethan flushed an even brighter shade of red.

“We were never supposed to be Alpha’s.” Aiden explained, “We weren’t cut out for it, even in the Alpha pack, we were following orders, the most Alpha thing we ever did was making the decision to leave Deucalion, we’d rather be Omega’s, but we don’t want to be fearing for our lives every second, and, asking your permission to stay in the territory is the best way to make sure that we aren’t looking over our shoulders every second, that, we are, at least a little bit, safe.” 

“And if I say no?” Derek growled.

“Derek, stop being mean.” Cora said whacking him on the arm and opening the door a little wider, “Derek is fine with you staying, just so longer as neither of you decide to hold his beta’s hostage again,” she winked at Aiden, “Although you could totally hold me hostage for a little while.” Aiden blushed and Cora cackled, wandering back to the kitchen table where Erica was smirking at Cora’s antics and Derek stared at her with his mouth hanging open. 

“Derek, if we can forgive them, perhaps you can at least consider it?” Boyd asked quietly and Derek was amazed, his three beta’s had been driven early insane by the Alpha pack, had nearly killed Derek the first night they were free, would have killed hundreds more if Derek hadn’t kept their attention until the morning after, how could Boyd, Erica and Cora just forgive that?

“Don’t think so hard, it looks like you’re constipated.” Cora continued before sighing, “Look, Derek, out of all of them, the twins weren’t the worst, you know? They kept us fed and watered, gave us clean clothes every once in a while, they did the best they could to look out for us, and, I think, they were probably just as trapped by the Alpha pack as we were, am I right?” Cora asked and Ethan and Aiden nodded in agreement from the doorway. “Good, so, we forgive them, if you want to hold a grudge, that’s fine, but it shouldn’t stop them from sticking around, for a little bit at least?”

“Fine.” Derek snapped through gritted teeth. “You can stay in the territory and I won’t kill you. But, you ever think of hurting any of my beta’s again and I will tear you apart. You understand me?” 

“Yes sir.” Ethan and Aiden both squeaked before the door slammed in their faces and Derek heard them stride quickly away, Aiden teasing Ethan gently about the fact he’d told Derek about wanting to stick around for Danny.

When Scott brought Kira over to the loft Derek was sure he should just stop being surprised, Kira was a kitsune, she was a bit shy but had a bright smile and she grinned nervously when Scott gripped her hand tightly and looked at her with a dopey smile. Derek had rolled his eyes, but greeted her in his usual manner, no, not growling at her and slamming her into something, instead, he got up from the sofa and shaking her hand before excusing himself, he had the strong urge to go paint so he headed out to his container and spent the next few days working on the canvas that showed his new pack, Peter and Cora, Noah, Melissa, Chris, Allison, Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Jackson, Lydia, Scott and of course, himself. They were all wolves, scattered through a clearing in the preserve, lounging in the sunlight filtering through the trees, a river running gently nearby, looking relaxed and at peace and it made Derek ache looking at it, wanting nothing more than to be able to add Stiles into the painting. 

When Braeden showed up again almost six months later she smiled happily at Derek, right before collapsing into his arms like a damsel in distress, by this point Kira, Ethan, Aiden and even Danny had become part of his pack, he’d been a bit nervous about bringing the twins into his pack, but, they’d proved themselves over and over, Aiden going out of his way to protect Cora when a troll tried to rip her in half, Derek wasn’t an idiot, he knew something was going on between the two of them, but, thankfully, they weren’t rubbing it in his face, unlike the rest of his pack. Most evenings Kira and Scott sat making out on one chair, while Isaac and Allison sat in a different one, only breaking apart to catch their breath, Derek thought it should probably be awkward, but somehow, it didn’t seem it. Lydia and Jackson, Erica and Boyd and Ethan and Danny had all sat by, switching between making bets on who would break for air first, or holding their own competitions, Cora and Aiden had stayed out of until now, thank god, and Melissa and Noah had both just laughed and said they’d leave the competition to the younger ones, also thank god. 

It wasn’t that Derek wasn’t happy for his pack, he was, but, somehow, it was only Peter, Chris and himself that didn’t have someone to share a bed with, to wake up with, to share stupid jokes with. In moments like this, when his pack were all sat around, stinking of love and happiness, he missed Stiles more than anything. There’d been a knocking at his door and he’d strolled across to open it, looking at Braeden in shock as she’d smiled at him and then collapsed, thankfully Derek caught her before she hit the floor and then the scent of blood hit him. He carried her to the nearest table where Melissa was already pulling out a first aid kit and starting to examine the wound on her stomach. It looked like a knife had almost gutted her and Derek felt a well of rage inside himself, he didn’t trust Braeden, didn’t even particularly like her, but, she’d helped them with the Alpha’s, sort of, and he didn’t like that someone had hurt her. 

By the time she regained consciousness an hour later the entire pack were pacing agitatedly around the room, not sure if whatever or whoever had attacked her was on the way here. 

“What happened?” Derek almost growled.

“Relax grumpy.” She smiled, “It’s no big deal, I pulled a few stitches on the way here, should have been taking things easier I guess.” 

“It looks like a knife wound?” Noah asked and Braeden grinned, not the response Derek had been expecting.

“Damn right it is.” She chuckled.

“Want to tell us how it happened?” Jackson asked and Braeden grinned again.

“Well, I was on a case, got hired to track this kid, and, god, this kid is so good with knives, like, I’ve seen him do things with knives that shouldn’t even be possible, but, anyway, I’m pretty sure he knows I’m on his trail, okay, I’ve got a tranq gun so I’m not overly fussed, I mean, the kid is good with knives but it’s nothing against a gun.” Braeden began, sucking them all into her story, “So, we’re in this shitty part of town, the sun is beating down on both of us, I know the kid is running on empty, hasn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep in a few days, hasn’t eaten in however long, I know it’s only a matter of time until he slips up, I’m just waiting for it.”

Derek feels a little queasy at the look of excitement on her face, he’s not sure that anyone should look that excited when tracking what sounds like a scared, hungry child.

“I see him go down, hard, and I’m a little surprised, I was sure my shot went wide, but, he’s down and he’s not getting up, so I go towards him, prod at his side with my feet, you know, just to check he is really out, and then he’s swinging around, knife slicing across my stomach, jumping to his feet and running like he’s got hellhounds at his heels, I manage to get a shot in, hit him square in the back this time, he stumbles, tries to get back to his feet and so I shoot him again and this time he goes down hard and stays down.” Braeden explains, Derek looks at the blood still staining her t-shirt, thinks how badly things could have gone if that kid had sliced a little deeper, he feels an odd desire to protect her, make sure things never happen like that again, but, Braeden is not a person who needs protecting, she’d probably laugh at Derek if he ever even suggested it. 

“What happened then?” Isaac said sounding intrigued. 

“Well, I called my employer, told him I’d caught the kid, gave him directions, he sent two of his guys out, they took him back and dropped me off at the nearest hospital on the way, I got my cash, he got the kid, I got stitched up and decided to come pay you guys a visit.” Braeden concluded.

“What did he want the kid for?” Noah asked, “Took him back where?” 

“From the sounds of things, he was working in one of the fight rings,” Braeden shrugged, “He stole something, Marcus wanted it back, so he hired me to take the kid back to him.” 

“Marcus? Is he the guy that owns the fight rings?” 

“He runs them, yeah, I don’t know who the actual owner is, but Marcus is as good as the owner, nothing gets done without his permission.” Braeden concluded, “So, anyway, I hopped on over the border, rolled up here and I think I pulled a couple of my stitches when I parked downstairs, silly huh?”

“So long as you aren’t on a job right now, I don’t mind.” Lydia said, “I’d hate to have you hunting me down.” She smirked and Braeden laughed. 

Braeden stayed for three weeks, Derek was just getting used to having her around, then she was slinging a bag on her shoulder, giving them all wide grins and hugs and muttering something about work waits for no man before jumping on her bike and riding off into the sunset, Derek wasn’t going to lie, he had gotten a little attached to her in the past few weeks.

Jody took the painting he’d done last year, the painting of Stiles running with the pack, Derek had been sad to see it go, he’d often find himself staring at it, finding that when he closed his eyes he could picture it perfectly, Stiles running through the preserve, laughing loudly as he howled with the rest of the pack, throwing his head back, a wide grin on his face, eyes sparkling mischievously. 

“’The boy who ran with wolves’ huh?” Jody asked, “It’s got a nice ring to it, I like it. Are you sure you want to sell it?” 

“I’ve got too many paintings.” Derek confessed, the canvas’ were crammed into the container, he only had a few that weren’t already full of swirling colours and bright eyes, he needed to go buy some more soon, “I think you need to take a few off my hands.” 

“Alright, and by a few, how many do you mean? Only I’ve got eight museums that are desperate for pieces of your work, not to mention at least thirty collectors who are willing to pay high prices just to get a single piece. Now, although part of me says that keeping the number of your pieces limited makes people more desperate and therefore willing to pay higher prices, the other part of me knows that I could demand a price of six hundred thousand for each one and people would still pay, so, how do you want to play this? I could take a lot and get rid of them for you easily? Or would you rather sell a few at a time?” 

“No. Just,” Derek sighed, glancing at the filled canvas’ and knowing they weren’t doing any good just sitting there, “Take them, just take them and sell them.” 

Jody looked at him with worry for a few moments before he gave her a tentative smile and she relaxed, moving forwards and starting to package the canvas’ for transport. 

“Not that one.” Derek said, looking at the portrait of Stiles, all the other paintings of Stiles had never shown his face, not in detail like this, there was one of his with his hood up, but most of his face had been covered in shadow, or another of him where his eyes shone gold in the darkness making him look dangerous, but other than the golden eyes you couldn’t see any more of him, Derek didn’t particularly want those ones to go, but he’d part with them, this one though, the one of Stiles in all his glory, the one where his eyes almost seemed alive with laughter, Derek couldn’t sell that one, he’d told Noah he’d never sell that one and he meant it. 

It took Jody six hours to package and load forty paintings, Derek looked around the container and couldn’t help but be surprised by how big it was without all the paintings in the way. He approached the painting of Stiles, still sitting against the wall in the corner, making sure it couldn’t get muddled up with any of the other paintings, before Derek made a decision, it took him an hour to get the equipment he needed but before the night was out the painting had been mounted on the wall of his container and Derek had manoeuvred his other materials so that he could always glance across at Stiles whenever he wanted, he knew he was probably acting a little crazy but he didn’t care, in some way this felt right. 

Slowly, so slowly that everything ached, he started to put his life back together. Noah had become a permanent fixture in their lives now, as had Melissa, Noah lived with them at the loft and Melissa stayed most nights, Isaac, Peter and Cora were there too, Erica and Boyd stayed there more often than at home as their parents didn’t deal very well with the fact that Erica and Boyd had run away to spend the summer together, apparently there had been shouting and arguments which cumulated in Erica’s father screaming at her that ‘if you want to be with that boy so much then get the hell out of my house and you can come back when he breaks your heart which he will do because nobody would want to be with you!’ Needless to say, Erica had grabbed her belongings, looked at her father with such disappointment, as if she’d never seen him before, and left the house. She’d arrived at the loft looking grief stricken and it had taken Melissa sitting next to her and holding her trembling form before Erica told her what had been said. Noah had snarled, his eyes flashing blue and Peter had nodded in agreement, both of them ready to go tell Erica’s father what a waste of space he was. 

Boyd had appeared before they could and he’d held Erica tightly and told her that it was okay, they had each other and they had their pack and nothing would tear that apart. It had turned into another night of cuddles, Derek thought Stiles would laugh his ass off now if he could see them, he hoped he could, hoped he could see how far they’d come, hoped he’d be proud of Derek. 

The twins had moved in gradually, it had started with staying over the odd night, when the pack had a movie night and they were invited, then, when Chris had found out that they were sleeping in the preserve at night Derek had growled, he wasn’t sure when he’d started considering them pack, but the idea of any of his pack sleeping out in the cold made him pace angrily, so, the next time they had a pack night, which happened to be the following night, no, Derek had not organised it specifically to tell the twins that they were staying there from now on, it just so happened that he thought they needed a pack night, there was no planning behind it. 

The twins had looked at him with such thankfulness and awe and surprise that Derek felt his chest hurt, he hadn’t done enough to show them that he cared, not if they were genuinely so shocked that he’d offer them a place to stay, he had to fix that. He needed his pack to know how much he cared about them all. 

The loft was crowded with everyone staying there and Derek thought it was about time they looked for something a bit more permanent. Cora had been the one to suggest tearing down the old house and starting fresh, Derek had been thinking about it, but the idea of tearing down the only thing left of their old home, of their pack, it brought tears to his eyes, eventually though, he came around to the idea, especially when Peter said he thought it would be good for them, a bonding exercise.

The house took eight months to build, Braeden had come back twice during that time, each time regaling them with different jobs she’d taken since she’d last seen them, she usually stayed a couple of weeks before taking off again and each time Derek was surprised by how much he’d come to care for her, then she’d leave and he’d spend a couple of days moping before getting back to normal. 

The first night they slept in the new house was a little odd, after practically living in each other’s pockets they now had their own soundproofed rooms, mainly because Cora had insisted on it and Derek really didn’t want to hear anything he shouldn’t. There were even spare rooms for when guests stayed over, Scott moved in at the same time as Melissa, both her and Noah having decided to sell their homes in order to live together. Derek had helped Noah clear his house out, he wasn’t going to tell the man that he’d actually stolen a few of Stiles’ jumpers, ones where his scent still somehow miraculously lingered, Derek held them close to him on nights when everything felt a little too much and the place where the bond he’d had with Stiles throbbed angrily in his chest. 

When Scott moved in it meant that Kira stopped over a lot of the time, Allison already stayed with Isaac and Danny stayed most nights with Ethan, Derek did not want to think about Cora sharing a bed with Aiden, even though they had admitted they were dating and enjoyed each other’s company, Derek just didn’t want to think of his little sister like that. There was a spare room for Chris and another for Jackson and Lydia, Jackson stayed a lot, his parents hadn’t been understanding of his behaviour in the past few years and Jackson struggled without having his pack nearby, he was still terrified that he’d somehow turn back into the Kanima if he wasn’t reminded that he had people around him who cared about him. Lydia spent a lot of time reassuring him that he wouldn’t ever turn back into that thing, and that, even if he did, they’d turn him back, just like they had done last time, because she loved him and that wasn’t ever going to change. 

“This book says that True Alpha’s are really rare.” Danny said chewing on a mouthful of cereal and Derek rolled his eyes.

“So I’ve heard.” Derek replied sarcastically. 

“Did you get like super powers? Like, obviously, you were already an Alpha, but, like, did you get super strong?” Danny asked and Derek glared at him. 

“Nope, still just an ordinary Alpha werewolf, still strong enough to kill you in a hundred different ways if you’ve used the last of the milk again?” Derek replied when he looked in the fridge and saw there was no milk left, he heard Danny gulp behind him. 

“Thankfully, you don’t have to kill him because I brought more!” Erica said cheerfully, handing him the carton of milk and winking at Danny. 

When Danny found out about them it had been odd, apparently, Danny had known about werewolves for a while, although he hadn’t known about Jackson and there were a tense couple of weeks where Danny blanked him and Jackson pleaded for his forgiveness, it wasn’t until Jackson literally got down on his knees and begged Danny to forgive him that Danny had smiled and hugged him tightly and whispered that it was okay, that they would always be best friends. Derek could feel the grief wash over Scott and felt the usual stab of pain at the thought of Stiles. 

It turned out that Danny knew about werewolves because his mother was a witch of sorts, not very powerful, but powerful enough to know about the supernatural world and attempt to defend herself from it, she’d taught Danny a few things about how to protect himself, but Danny wasn’t very good at it, relying more on his technical skills than anything else. Jackson had mentioned about maybe training Danny to become their emissary, that Deaton couldn’t have an issue with it because Danny was part of their pack. Danny had shot the idea down before Derek could even speak.

“No man, I am in no way powerful enough to be an emissary, I can literally float a pencil, that’s it, you need something signing and have no pen, no problem, I’ll float you a pencil, but otherwise, nope, you’re on your own.”

“That’s what training is for.” Isaac suggested, “Deaton could train you, I’m sure it would be okay.” 

“No. I don’t want training on how to do magic, if I want any training it’s how to fight anything that’s coming to attack us, I can do the research thing no issues, but, right now, physically, I need help.”

“I can help with that.” Chris and Noah both offered at the same time and then grinned at each other. Derek hadn’t been exactly impressed when Noah shoved a gun into his hand and told him to take aim, but Noah had insisted, if they were attacked, a gun would be better than claws and fangs, he wouldn’t have to get so close to do damage. 

It had taken a while but eventually most of the pack were proficient to some extent with guns, Derek didn’t like them, he’d still prefer to rely on his fangs and claws, but, he knew that if it came to it for any reason, he would be able to defend himself with a gun too. 

Chris had taken to training them all in hand-to-hand combat, Derek helped with the wolves but the humans in the pack followed his techniques, they’d spend hours sparring most weekends, going for a long run through the preserve at least twice a week, Derek was content he guessed. He wasn’t happy, wasn’t sure if he’d ever be truly happy again but he was content with what he had, a loving pack, a family, sure it would be better if Laura was here, if his mother and father, the rest of his family, Stiles, were all here, but, he’d take what he could get. 

About eighteen months after Stiles died, a week before what would have been his eighteenth birthday Braeden came back again. She looked happy, pulling Derek to one side and telling him about how she was thinking of taking a break from her employment, that she wanted to spend some time to just relax and would it be okay if she stayed here for a while, Derek had said yes without even considering the implications of her staying, just happy that she was there.

Stiles’ birthday was hard, Noah was bad-tempered and grieving and nothing anyone could say seemed to make it any better, by the time darkness fell they were all sat outside in the back garden, having already finished several bottles of wolfsbane-laced beer and a bonfire that was starting to die down in front of them. 

“He’d be proud of us, you know?” Scott said to the group at large, “When you look back, how far we’ve come, how much has changed, I think he’d be proud of us.”

“What was he like?” Braeden asked and Scott gave her a watery smile.

“He was incredible.” Derek found himself speaking, the words sprouting out of his mouth before his mind had agreed with him, “He was funny.” 

“Sarcastic.” Jackson muttered and there were a few chuckles around the bonfire.

“He was smart.” Lydia added, “And observant, he was the only one who saw me for who I am, even when I fooled everyone else.”

“He was kind.” Allison smiled, “He made sure that I didn’t feel like an outsider, that I fitted in.” 

“He was a pain in the ass.” Peter grinned, “Smart-mouthed, always had a reply for everything.”

“He never shut up.” Boyd grinned, “It was kind of nice in a way, you know, like he rambled and it just sort of put you at ease, knowing he was there.” 

“Here.” Noah said, pulling a picture out of his wallet and handing it to Braeden who studied it silently by the firelight. “The picture doesn’t really do him justice, it’s one of the two of us, the summer before, before he died. He was always so full of life, like he couldn’t sit still, and he always had a smile, even when he didn’t feel like it, he’d put a smile on his face because he wouldn’t want me to worry. He had a huge heart, loved fiercely and with everything he had.” 

Braeden’s face had tightened slightly, her jaw clenched and her eyes hardened before she glanced across at Derek and sighed, relaxing and handing the photo back to Noah.

“He was a good-looking kid.” She said and Noah nodded.

“Took after his mum, she had the same eyes, could see right through all my bullshit.” Noah laughed, it came out more like a sob and Melissa rubbed a hand over his back soothingly.

“I wish we’d got a chance to meet him.” Kira said, rubbing her thumb against Scott’s hand, “He sounds pretty awesome.” 

“You wouldn’t believe some of the pranks he used to play,” Danny grinned, “You remember when he put up that huge poster of you picking your nose, plastered it over the wall of the cafeteria? What had you done to annoy him that time?” Jackson laughed, the memory making him feel sad and happy at the same time.

“I think that was for calling Scott a nerd. He never seemed that bothered when I annoyed him, but, by god if I went after Scott he’d never let me live it down. Like, when I shoved him in the pool one time, I swear all he did was fill my locker with shaving cream, but, do you remember when Blake shoved Scott into a locker, dude got pulled up the flagpole by his boxers, he couldn’t walk normally for a week.” That got a huge round of laughs and Noah swiped at tears in his eyes. 

“He sounds pretty special.” Braeden agreed and Derek nodded. 

“He was.” Derek said simply, their lives were all more than a little darker without Stiles in it and it hurt, but, they were healing, slowly and painfully, but they were healing. 

Braeden stuck around, she’d been there for two months before Noah came to his container one night, stared at the painting of Stiles on the wall and shook his head a little sadly. 

“You know, Derek, you deserve to be happy.” 

“Noah…” Derek began, not sure where this was going. 

“No, look, just listen to me, I know you loved him, I know you did, but, Derek, he’s dead, and he’s not coming back, and I know he’d want us all to be happy, want us all to take whatever happiness we can get. So, ask Braeden out, she likes you, you like her, don’t waste it, you don’t know how long you’ll have in this world, make every second count.” Noah finished and before Derek could say anything he took one more look at the painting of Stiles before shaking his head in sadness and turning around, shutting the container door behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

Derek was nervous, what he felt for Braeden wasn’t anything compared to what he had felt for Stiles, but, it was something, and maybe Noah was right, maybe he deserved to be happy. When Derek had asked her if she’d like to go for dinner, just the two of them, Braeden had practically glowed, which had led him to here, standing outside the restaurant in a shirt and jeans and glancing at his watch, feeling completely and utterly terrified. 

As first dates went it wasn’t a complete disaster, they talked about all sorts of things, Derek liked that he didn’t have to keep the supernatural from her, that they could talk about whatever monster had tried to attack the town in the last month. He also liked that she already knew all his pack, they talked about how Erica and Boyd were discussing getting married, although, apparently, Erica was going to be the one to ask Boyd when she was ready, they talked about how Noah and Melissa worked so well together and that you’d think they’d been together their entire lives, Derek noticed Braeden tensed slightly when Derek mentioned how Stiles would have loved to see his and Scott’s parents finally get together. 

“Derek,” Braeden muttered a few moments later, “I know that you cared for him, a lot, but, do you think, is there any chance of there being something here? Between us?” 

“I think so.” Derek answered honestly.

“I mean, if Stiles was still alive, if he was still around, would you still be interested?” Braeden asked and Derek stilled, how could he possibly answer that without hurting her feelings, Derek was pretty sure that Stiles would have been the only one for him, but, he’d never even got to tell him how he felt and maybe Stiles would have rejected him, or maybe he wouldn’t, but then if they’d got together, it wouldn’t be anything like Derek imagined it being, they’d probably drive each other crazy and end up hating each other within days. “Never mind.” Braeden said and Derek knew he’d taken too long to answer, “I guess it’s a moot point anyway. I mean, he’s dead.” She said, wincing slightly as she did, no doubt aware of how bad that sounded and glancing at Derek with eyes full of apology.

“Yeah, I mean, you’re right, it’s a moot point.” Derek answered, taking the out she’d given him. 

After that awkward moment, the rest of the date went surprisingly well, Derek drove them back to the house and they kissed for a few minutes before Braeden went back into her room and Derek wandered down the hall to his, a small, hesitant glow in his chest. 

As time passed he felt better about a lot of things, mainly waking up in the morning and seeing Braeden in his bed, waking her up with soft kisses and smiles, even a few times, waking her up with breakfast in bed. He was probably happier than he’d been since, well, he wasn’t sure when. 

The town still wasn’t safe, that much was obvious, he doubted that would ever change, at least once a month they would have to go out and fight some terrifying creature, goblins, trolls, fairies, vampires, selkies and succubus’ to name but a few, but, with the training from Chris, Noah, Derek and even Braeden once or twice the pack were a lot better at defending themselves, sometimes Derek’s hand went for his gun before his eyes even flashed and Noah called it progress and Derek laughed. 

On the night of his and Braeden’s six-month anniversary he was waiting outside a restaurant in Beacon Hills, waiting for her to arrive, Derek hadn’t told her he loved her, it was odd that they were six months in and he hadn’t said it yet, Braeden had said it for the first-time last month and Derek had stilled, not sure how to reply.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to say it back, I just thought you should know.” 

“I do really care about you.” Derek replied a little awkwardly, “And I like you, a lot.” 

“You’ll say it when you’re ready.” Braeden replied confidently, flicking her hair over her shoulder and leaving the room to answer a phone call. Derek had let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and tried to forget about the conversation, you see, the thing was, he wasn’t sure he did love her, he cared about her, yes, liked her and got along with her, yes, had kind of amazing sex with her, yes. But she was so distant sometimes, like she was hiding something, and sometimes when he made a joke she didn’t laugh, instead looking at him like she couldn’t understand why Derek had even joked about whatever it was, he thought about how Stiles would grin at him, eyes bright with amazement because ‘oh my god, sourwolf knows how to joke!’ he knew he shouldn’t compare the two of them, that they were vastly different, because Stiles had been light, innocent and fragile and Braeden was tough and strong and had seen the dark side of the world. 

He had convinced himself that tonight was the night, that he would tell her he loved her, he still wasn’t sure if he meant it or not, but he knew it would mean a lot to her if he said it and he wanted her to be happy. He glanced at his watch again, she was five minutes late, that wasn’t a surprise, Braeden was almost always at least fifteen minutes late, apparently, she had a thing about showing up on time. 

He was so busy trying to pick up on the sound of her motorbike roaring through the quiet streets that he missed the shuffle of steps behind him, he caught the scent first, one that was so familiar and so sickening that he spun around, needing his eyes to see what his nose had already registered, before he’d even turned around properly something hard hit him in the head and he dropped to the ground heavily, his eyes already starting to slide shut as he saw Kate crouch down next to him and smirk before everything faded to blackness. 

When Braeden had called them in a panic the pack had raced to the restaurant, Braeden explained that she had arrived a few minutes late and Derek wasn’t there, his car was parked across the road, she’d found his phone lying on the ground a few feet away and, more terrifyingly, there was a small pool of blood nearby. None of them had needed more than one inhale for them to know it was Derek’s. 

“I smell something else.” Peter began going pale, “But, that, it can’t be right? Can it?” He looked to Scott, “Can you smell…” Scott took another inhale, his pupils dilating and his face whitening.

“Kate.” He snarled and Peter nodded tightly.

“She’s dead.” Chris replied tensely.

“No. There’s no mistaking that scent.” Peter growled out, his eyes flashing blue as he struggled for control of his wolf. 

Using Chris’ hunter connections, Noah’s law enforcement connections and the wolves’ general werewolf abilities they managed to track Kate and Derek to La Iglesia in Mexico, what they hadn’t expected were the four berserkers that were waiting for them there. 

Braeden fought like a woman possessed determined to get to Derek, Noah and Chris fought side by side, keeping Melissa, Allison and Danny behind them, all of them taking shots at the berserkers whenever they could. 

The berserkers were violent and brutal and the fight was long and hard, each of the wolves suffering various injuries so that eventually they had to go on the defensive, the only thing that they could say was in their favour was the fact that Kate hadn’t had time to complete whatever her plan had been, they’d arrived before she could do anything like sacrifice Derek or anything like that. Instead she stood at the entrance to the temple, Derek bound and gagged and on his knees next to her, looking at his pack with pure fear in his eyes. 

Seeing their Alpha bound and helpless at the hands of a crazy woman drove the beta’s insane with rage, their anger re-strengthening their determination, Ethan and Aiden merged to make a huge werewolf, thankfully that ability hadn’t disappeared when they gave up their Alpha status, charging the berserker between them and Derek, tackling it to the ground. Scott, Isaac, Jackson and Peter took the one on the left, Cora, Erica, Boyd and Braeden took the one on the right, Kira charged in to help Ethan and Aiden, Danny running right after her and screaming out a battle cry, Noah, Chris, Allison, Melissa and Lydia went after the final berserker. Peter was the first to kill one, they weren’t sure how he’d done it, one second he’d grabbed hold of the skull that covered its face, ripping it apart and then the berserker had crumbled into dust in front of their very eyes. It had only enraged the other three.

By the time they had killed the other three berserkers they were all suffering from injuries, their own blood covering them in various places where the wounds were already starting to heal, Kate had her claws to Derek’s throat and he was looking at them with wide eyes.

“Derek…” Scott began, trailing off when Kate dug her claws in a little deeper and Derek tensed significantly. 

“It’s over Kate.” Chris said calmly, his hands up, trying to put her at ease as he took a step closer, “Look, whatever your plan was here, it’s failed. Now, let Derek go.”

“I had no idea you cared so much about him.” Kate smirked.

“Kate, all I care about it you not making things any worse for yourself. Let Derek go.” 

“What? Like you aren’t going to kill me the instant I let him go? Like he gave dad that chance?” Kate hissed angrily, her fangs lengthening.

“Kate, our father murdered an innocent child, a human, you don’t have to kill Derek, you don’t have to do this, you can let him go.” Chris continued, Braeden and Noah both had a gun pointed at Kate’s head, ready to fire the instant she moved. 

“Maybe I want him dead, maybe I want him to pay for murdering our father.”

“You murdered our entire family.” Peter snarled.

“And you tried to kill me.” Kate snorted in reply, “A vicious circle, isn’t it?”

“Aunt Kate,” Allison looked at her sadly, “Please, hasn’t there been enough death? Hasn’t there already been enough loss? Please, don’t do this.” 

Kate’s grip tightened slightly and blood ran freely down Derek’s neck, he let out a little grunt of pain and the entire pack flashed their eyes, looking ready to murder Kate. 

“Enough Kate.” Noah snarled, “I will not lose anybody else I care about, so, I’m giving you this once chance to let him go or I’ll put a bullet in your brain and make sure you stay dead this time.” 

“You’ve got some balls…” Kate started, loosening her grip just slightly, she didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence because as soon as her grip loosened Noah fired, watching as her head flew backwards as the bullet connected, her hand ripping Derek’s throat slightly as it fell from his throat and she hit the ground hard, the rest of the pack looking on in a shocked silence as Kate’s eyes stared wide and unseeing at the sky above her.

“Derek.” Braeden cried out, rushing towards him and pulling the gag from his mouth, clamping a hand to his neck but the wound was already beginning to heal and Derek nodded across at Noah gratefully.

“I’m sorry Chris.” Noah said but Chris just shook his head.

“Had to be done, you didn’t have a choice.” Chris said, approaching the body of his sister and pressing against her neck for a pulse before sighing and shaking his head. “I’ll take care of the body.” He muttered.

“It’s getting late.” Lydia whispered, “We should find a motel, take the night to recover before we head home.” 

Braeden was already helping Derek to his feet, Peter and Cora rushing to hug him tightly, the rest of the pack following soon after. 

“Did she say what her plan was?” Isaac asked and Derek nodded. 

“She wanted the triskelion stone in the vault under the school, she seemed to think it’s a powerful talisman that would have helped her with her control, apparently, she had some plan where I would have told her, I don’t know if she was thinking torture or what, but she had some kind of evil plot I’m sure.” Derek muttered, extracting himself from Braeden’s grip and then hugging Noah tightly. 

“It’s not a powerful talisman.” Peter laughed in disbelief, “It’s basically a stone that we gave to our younger members of the pack, we told them it was powerful in the hopes it helped them control the change, it has no more power than any other rock you picked up on the street.” He explained to the others. 

They managed to make it to the nearest motel, a town not far from the temple, it wasn’t anything fancy, but it had enough rooms available and they were all exhausted. Derek collapsed on the bed and fell asleep instantly, trying not to think about the way Kate had smirked at him every time he had been conscious on the way here, how she’d laughed about how easy it was going to be to get Derek to tell her all about the triskelion stone, how he’d tell her anything she wanted when her plan worked. He’d been so relieved to see the pack, to see them there, before Kate could do whatever it was she was planning, sure, he was terrified that they were going to get hurt, but they were so much stronger than they had ever been before, they worked together in a way that only packs with years of experience fighting everything in their way could. 

When he woke up the next morning it was to the feel of Braeden’s arm wrapped tight around his waist and the sun shining brightly through the window, he groaned and rolled over and Braeden tensed next to him, he opened his eyes blearily to look at her.

“You okay?” He asked, his voice rough from a heavy night’s sleep.

“Please don’t ever do that to me again Derek, I was sure I was going to lose you.” Braeden confessed and Derek shushed her with a soft press of his lips to hers. 

“I’ll do my best.” Derek muttered. 

The pack piled into the room a few minutes later and Derek blinked at them blearily, having another round of cuddles as they saw their Alpha fully healed, he stretched lazily, watching as the pack laughed and joked with each other, bumping shoulders or affectionate nuzzles against each other’s necks, relaxing as they processed the fact that they had survived yet another disaster.


	8. Chapter 8

“We should go get breakfast.” Cora said happily, the pack nodded in agreement and within twenty minutes they were all dressed, checked out and heading to their cars to find the nearest diner. Derek kind of expected Braeden to be more helpful in locating a nearby diner, after all she’d apparently spent a lot of time in this area if the ease in which she found the motel as anything to go by, but instead she seemed tense and on edge, especially as Jackson swung his car into a nearby car park and Derek could smell the unease coming off her. 

They piled into the diner, ordering pates upon plates of food, Noah at least didn’t have to worry about his cholesterol now he was a werewolf and made sure he ate bacon for almost every meal, Melissa and Noah were sickeningly cute thought, despite being together for over a year and Derek grinned every time he caught a whiff of their happiness. 

“Hurry up Lucas, the first fight starts in twenty minutes.” A harassed man said over by the counter and Derek paused, a piece of toast half way to his mouth. 

“Relax, the first fight is never that good, the blood doesn’t really start to flow until at least the fourth or fifth fight.” The second man laughed, glancing over to their table and meeting Derek’s gaze, he looked at them in curiosity before wandering over to them, Braeden wound as tight as a snake next to him. “You here to watch the fights?” The man asked, his eyes flashing golden for a moment and Derek flashed his red eyes right back. 

“The fights?” Noah asked in confusion.

“Yeah? The gladiator ring? Like half a mile from here? It’s supposed to be good today. I hear The Kid is supposed to be back in rotation.” 

“The fight rings you told us about?” Derek muttered out of the corner of his mouth and Braeden nodded tightly. “Yeah, we might go check it out later.” Derek nodded.

“Don’t wait too long or you’ll miss all the excitement.” The man said, turning on his heel and going back to Lucas as they excited the diner. 

“We shouldn’t go.” Braeden said the instant the door shut behind them.

“Why not? I thought you said you know the guy who’s run them? Marcus, isn’t it?” Peter asks.

“Not anymore. He got, uh, replaced, about a month ago, the new guy, well, he isn’t a man to be messed with, if things there were bad before, well, they’re ten times worse now, we should leave, get away from here.” Braeden said, her eyes flicking to look at all the exits, as if expecting someone to attack them right now. 

“What do you mean, bad before?” Erica asked and Braeden tensed again. 

“Well, Marcus, he wasn’t exactly fussed about gladiators who wanted to be there, I know I kind of alluded to it before, but, you know, he wasn’t bothered about where they came from or if they wanted to be there.” 

“You mean slaves?” Noah growled and Braeden nodded silently. “And the man now, the person in charge of them now?” 

“I don’t know that much about him, I just know he’s worse.” Braeden admitted, “We shouldn’t go, we have to leave now.” 

“He’s got slaves.” Melissa hissed, “Innocent people he’s making fight, we have to do something.” 

“We should go watch, see what we’re dealing with.” Chris said and Derek nodded in agreement. 

“Derek,” Braeden pleaded, looking at him with wide eyes, “Please, don’t do this, let’s just go home, forget about this.” Derek paused, how could she possibly think it was okay to leave people as slaves? Perhaps she wasn’t the person Derek thought she was. 

“We’ll go check it out.” He agreed, “Once we get there we can decide what to do, we do not make any rash decisions.” He said, making sure to make eye contact with his slightly more reckless betas.

Whatever Derek had been expecting it wasn’t this, he’d imagined a basement maybe, a dark, dirty room, maybe a cage fight or something, instead they walked towards a massive stone structure, a colosseum, partially destroyed but mainly intact, they entered through a stone archway, a tingle covering his whole body for a moment and they were immediately overwhelmed by the sheer noise surrounding them, there were at least five hundred people stood on the stone steps shouting and cheering. 

They passed through a security checkpoint on the way in, the guards ensuring that they handed over all weapons before they could enter the arena, Allison had kept pulling weapons out long after Derek thought she was done, everyone’s eyebrows climbing a little higher at the arsenal she carried around with her. Allison wasn’t happy about handing it all over but eventually conceded on the basis that she’d be able to collect them when she left. There were a series of booths to the left of them, they looked to be taking bets and Derek rolled his eyes, he moved forwards looking down into the ring below them, there was a large metal fence surrounding the ring and Derek could smell the electricity coming off it from here. 

The crowd was cheering again and when Derek inhaled he got a multitude of scents, werewolves, humans, casters, vampires and an assortment of other creatures, they all smelled of excitement and it made Derek queasy. There were a couple of food stands the other side of the ring and the toilets were behind them, it looked like you could stay all day without ever having to leave the colosseum, Derek wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not.

“How does nobody hear this?” Scott asked in awe.

“I imagine the tingle we felt was some kind of magical charm.” Peter mused and Derek shrugged. They made their way to the nearest seats they could find, about half way up the steps on the other side of the colosseum, it gave them a surprisingly good view of the ring and Derek watched with a kind of muted horror as the two gladiators fought viciously. 

They were both wearing metal helmets that partially covered their faces, they looked like the old roman type of helmets, but without any of the usual plumage, they also wore metal protection on their forearms and a black leather and metal collar around their throats, they wore either shorts or trousers, they were shirtless and barefoot and Derek vaguely wondered if the hot sand beneath their feet bothered them.

The fight was brutal, Derek had been sure that the slightly larger gladiator had been about to win but then the smaller one had dropped his blade and his claws unsheathed and he charged at the larger gladiator, his claws tearing through the man’s side and dropping him to the ground. 

A bell rang a moment later and the smaller gladiator climbed off the downed man and threw his arms up in victory before marching off and exiting the ring, a metal gate slamming closed behind him, the larger gladiator getting back to his feet and stumbling towards the exit too. 

The next fight was announced a few minutes later, the odds announced and a flurry of activity at the betting booths as people placed their bets, Braeden was sitting next to Derek, her lips pressed tightly together, her body almost shaking with tension. Derek wanted to comfort her but he was still trying to process the fact that Braeden had known there were slaves here and he couldn’t quite believe that. 

Derek was sweating heavily in the afternoon sun and he wondered how any of the gladiators could manage in this heat, the more he watched the more disturbed he became, he found out that if any of the gladiators went too far, came too close to killing their opponent, the collars around their neck gave them an electric shock and they dropped to the ground, rolling in pain. The same went for if they didn’t put enough effort into their fight, or, apparently, if the man in charge just felt like it. Derek could hear him laughing from where they sat, he was in a large box a few feet above them and about twenty feet to the left, he obviously had control of the collars, the man next to him had a microphone, he was the one announcing the fighters and the odds, and when he wasn’t speaking there was music blasting through the speakers that surrounded the ring. 

There were lots of different types of gladiators, the werewolves were the most brutal, their claws tearing through their victims but never giving them the final killing blow, the vampires were a lot more graceful, an encounter two months ago proved not only that they existed but that they could walk in the sun without issue. They made the wolves look like beasts, they were faster, their movements more graceful, they healed like the wolves did, so fast that Derek nearly missed it. The casters were useless, they were covered in tattoos, but for some reason they never used any magic, Lydia made the suggestion that the casters weren’t able to use spells in the ring, it was the only thing that made sense to Derek. Without their magic, they were just human and none of them seemed to know how to fight in the slightest, they always got taken out easily and Derek felt more than a little sorry for them, there were even some regular humans in the mix, they appeared to fight better than the casters, probably because the casters had relied on magic whereas the humans had never had that opportunity. 

There were other creatures that Derek recognised, trolls, fairies, djinn and goblins to name but a few, however the majority of the fighters consisted of the wolves, vampires, casters and humans. Some of them wore the helmets and arm guards that Derek had seen in the first fight, but others went without, mainly the vampires, Derek could understand that, they were fast enough that they avoided injury most of the time, usually they won their fight. It was odd that nobody died, Derek thought some of the injuries were enough that the victim should have died, but nobody did, the winner always stopping before what would be the killing blow.

The fights went on until the sun was starting to drop, Derek felt sick at the stench of blood that came from the ring, he was sure his pack all felt the same way. 

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, as you all know, the last fight of the day is upon us, now, for any newcomers on the scene, let me explain the rules to you, twenty of our best gladiators will be entering the ring, the aim is to down your opponents but not kill, the last man standing wins.” The man with the microphone shouted and there was cheering from the crowds around the stadium. Instead of the gladiators marching through the two gates on either side of the ring, as they had been doing all day, the ground in the middle of the ring opened up and a large piece of wood rose from the ground, there were several different knives and swords lining the case and there were several screams of excitement from the people surrounding them. 

“Firstly, I give you, The Conqueror,” The man shouted and there were several shouts as a smaller tube rose from the ground and a large square man stood on the small podium, glowering at the swords ahead of him, “The Master,” A second man appeared, his vampire fangs flashing dangerously for a moment, “The Scarecrow,” A woman appeared who was scarily skinny, her claws already out and her face twitching rapidly, the man continued to call names, the crowd around them letting out various jeers and shouts as the names were called, each gladiator positioned around the outside of the ring, a few feet in between each of them and the wall of swords in the middle, the layout reminded Derek a little of the opening of the hunger games, where the tributes had to decide if they went for the supplies or ran into the forest, none of these gladiators had the choice to run though, “And lastly, the one that you’ve been waiting to see for days, freshly returned from his latest escapades, I give you, The Kid!” There was a deafening round of cheers and Derek looked at The Kid in confusion, next to the other gladiators he was just a kid, he might have clearly defined muscles but they were nothing compared to the rest of the gladiators in the ring, he looked like he couldn’t be more than eighteen whereas the rest ranged between late twenties to early forties, his skin was marred with several scars, the worst of which were the four claw marks that ran from his right shoulder, down his chest and all the way to his left hip, Derek was surprised anyone could have survived that, he was wearing the helmet and forearm shields like some of the other gladiators, shorts that hung low on his narrow hips and bare feet, he had several tattoos that covered his side and Derek couldn’t help but want to get closer, study them in detail, he looked small and wiry next to the other fighters and Derek was scared for him, he hoped the poor guy didn’t take too much of a beating, 

All the gladiators were coated in sweat and were looking around nervously, The Kid was the only one not twitching, he looked tense, but ready, and Derek was incredibly curious as to why, maybe he was just too petrified to be able to move. 

“And three, two, one, fight!” The announcer called, his voice fading out as music blared out, a heavy bass beating steadily as the fight began. It was brutal, within minutes at least half of the fighters were down and nobody had even reached the swords in the middle of the ring yet. 

“That kid is smart.” Noah said, pointing to where The Kid was skirting around the edge of the ring, dodging the electric fence, dodging the other gladiators and slowly but surely making his way towards the swords. 

“He’s not built like the others.” Derek agreed.

“I don’t think he’s a wolf either.” Peter muttered, whereas most of the others had now resorted to their claws, The Kid had not shown any evidence of being supernatural. Derek wanted to call out a warning when one of the other gladiators, he thought it might be The Terminator, which, really, so cliché, came up behind The Kid and was about to grab the back of his head, no doubt slamming him into the ground, Derek needn’t have worried, just as The Terminator’s fists were about to connect, The Kid must have sensed something, he dropped to the ground, landing a solid punch to the guys privates and then jumping back to his feet and a roundhouse kick to the face, all in a matter of seconds.

“Woah.” Scott muttered in awe, as did most of the pack, The Kid was fast, incredibly fast, maybe he was supernatural after all. After that The Kid did a full out sprint towards the swords, giving up on being subtle, snatching two from the wooden casing and swinging them in front of him, as if testing them, there were several screams of appreciation, spectators chanting The Kids name and Derek felt like he was watching some kind of celebrity, when The Kid started swinging the swords he could understand why, he was fast and ruthless, never going for the kill shot, but wounding his opponents severely, making sure they wouldn’t get back up. 

Within minutes he had taken down the remaining eight gladiators, no longer cautious or stealthy, instead taking the fighters head on and defeating them each time, barely breaking his stride, the crowd was going wild. Once the final fighter went down The Kid threw down his swords and tilted his head up towards the box when the announcer was sitting, it looked almost defiant in nature. 

“The Kid wins!” The announcer screamed above the shouts of the crowd, Derek found himself clapping along with the rest of the crowd, a little amazed at The Kid’s fearlessness and ferocity. When The Kid dropped to his knees, his hands going to the collar around his throat and his body shaking with the electricity that surged through it Derek couldn’t help the growl that slipped through his lips. The guards entered the ring and started to drag the gladiators out of sight, The Kid putting up a fight, trying to get back to his feet, grabbing hold of one of the swords, before another jolt of electricity surged through him again and he fell to the floor again, until, eventually, he too was dragged from the ring. 

The crowds began to leave, the announcer telling them to make sure to come back tomorrow morning bright and early to see the next fight. Derek felt physically sick, they were keeping slaves, he had to try and do something about this.

“Can we go home now?” Braeden asked as soon as they passed through the magical barrier and the colosseum went silent behind them, she looked pale, terrified, Derek could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest and he pondered for a moment what she could be so scared of. 

“No, we have to do something.” Lydia hissed angrily, glancing around to make sure nobody could overhear them, “They are keeping people as slaves, we have to do something about that.” 

“I agree.” Allison said, “I get that we don’t know what we’re going up against, we need to watch, to plan, before we make any kind of move, but, we can’t let this continue.”

“There are four rings.” Braeden said, “Even if you take this one out, what about the other three? We can’t take this on, we’ll die.” She hissed, glancing over her shoulder nervously.

“You’d rather live your life knowing you left people as slaves?” Isaac said in horror.

“She’s a bounty hunter, what do you expect, she only cares about something if the money is right.” Jackson practically sneered and Derek was more than a little surprised to find that he agreed with him.

“No. I care that we live. That we all live. Together.” Braeden said, “Derek, I love you, and if you go down this path, I don’t know what’ll happen, I don’t know if any of us will survive.” She pleaded. 

“No. Braeden, we need to help them. They need help, we have to try, if I want to live with myself I have to try.” Derek explained and Braeden had tears in her eyes as she nodded tightly.

“Fine. Let’s do it.” She agreed, clenching her jaw like it was the last thing she wanted to do.

They got booked into a slightly nicer motel which was a little closer to the colosseum, Braeden told them everything she knew about the layout which wasn’t much apparently, any dealings she’d had with Marcus were kept to the office that was just behind the box where the announcer had sat. As Derek understood it, although it looked like an ancient stone structure, if you went inside, and you were someone of importance, you’d have a nice air-conditioned office, beautiful views and as much power as you wanted, she didn’t know where the fighters were kept when they weren’t fighting, although she did know that there was another room, almost directly below the ring and that once a month an auction was held there. 

“An auction?” Ethan asked, “Do they sell them on to the other rings or something?” Braeden looked like she’d swallowed something foul.

“No. They don’t sell their fighters, but, people are allowed to bid on them, to, erm, hire them?” 

“Hire them?” Peter growled, not liking the inflection behind her words and Braeden nodded. 

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know for definite, but, from what I’ve heard, you can hire a gladiator, for the night.” 

“And then what?” Isaac asked innocently, “Are they like sent to kill for you or something?” Lydia rolled her eyes and rested her hand gently on his, while Allison smiled at how innocent her boyfriend could be at times. 

“No Isaac, I think what Braeden is suggesting is that they are auctioned off for the night, sexually.” Lydia explained and Derek would have laughed at the way Isaac’s eyes went round with surprise and his mouth dropped open in shock, except this wasn’t funny, this was in no way funny. 

“Can we find out when the next one is?” Noah asked, “Maybe we can get an invite then sneak out, look around the rest of the compound, see if there’s another way out or something?” 

“Braeden?” Chris said raising an eyebrow in question.

“I can ask around.” She muttered, not looking up and meeting their eyes before getting up from her chair and disappearing out the door, Derek sighed heavily and then went after her. 

“What’s going on Braeden?” He asked, resting a hand on her shoulder and cupping her cheek so she was forced to meet his gaze, “Why are you so against this?”

“Because I don’t want to lose you.” She said angrily and Derek shook his head.

“You’re not going to lose me, we’re in this together, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” She nodded a little unsteadily, “Yeah, we are, it’s just, it’s all this, taking this on, the chances of putting together a plan, of pulling it off without at least some of us dying, it’s, I can’t bear the thought of being without you Derek.” 

“Hey, shush, that’s not going to happen.” He reassured her, “We’ll figure something out, we always do, okay? You’re not going to lose me.” 

“Promise?” She whimpered and Derek nodded, wondering what had shaken her so much, usually she was unflappable and this, this worried, scared side of her, he’d never seen it before. 

Braeden pulled him into a tight hug and a moment later pulled away, looking at him with wide eyes before kissing him and then walking backwards.

“I’ll go see what I can find out about the next auction.” She whispered and Derek nodded before going back into the motel room.

When they arrived at the colosseum the next morning they split up, taking seats around the ring in the hope it would extend the knowledge they had, the next auction was due to take place tomorrow evening after the final fight of the day and Braeden had managed to get them an invitation, today was just a scouting mission. 

Several of the gladiators that he had seen yesterday were back in the ring again today, he wondered vaguely how many gladiators there were here, oddly, some of them wore collars and some of them didn’t and he wondered what the hell it meant, Chris suggested that maybe the ones without collars were the ones who were here by choice, that made Derek feel sick, especially considering the majority of fighters were wearing them. 

He’d seen The Kid fighting another three times, the fights were one-on-one and the guy had to use different tactics than he had the day before. He was given a small blade when he entered the ring, it was barely longer than the claws of the werewolf he was up against and Derek wanted to shout about the injustice of it, except as soon as the fight had commenced The Kid had run straight at his opponent, dodged the rake of claws and slammed the knife into his neck, it had been over in a matter of seconds, so quick that Derek almost missed it, then there had been a loud cheer go up that almost deafened him and The Kid had dropped the knife before falling to his knees again as he was shocked by the collar. The next fight, less than an hour later, The Kid had thrown the knife, hitting his opponent that was easily thirty feet away at the time, and the wolf had collapsed to the ground, letting out a roar of pain as he pulled the knife from his eye. Derek was glad that The Kid hadn’t had to fight the wolf, the guy had easily been three times his size, made of pure muscle and looked deadly. 

It wasn’t that The Kid was scrawny, he was actually quite muscular, he had broad shoulders and narrow hips and long fingers that played with the knife in his hand easily, he was actually very attractive, but Derek couldn’t be thinking about that, he should be paying attention to their surroundings, seeing if he could find any weaknesses in their defences, anything to help them get everyone out of here. 

The third fight he watched with The Kid, he was stunned into silence, the wolf he was up against was fast, thankfully The Kid seemed to be just as fast, the claws raking across the metal guards on his forearms rather than his chest, he wasn’t given a knife this time and Derek thought that was completely unfair, especially as the wolf had claws and fangs and super healing and strength and speed. Instead they fought hand to hand combat, and The Kid was fucking good, like amazingly good, like they could all learn something from him kind of good, he dodged pretty much every claw that was aimed his way, moving so quickly that they were almost a blur, knowing that each moment of contact could be the difference between life and death. 

Eventually The Kid managed to pin the wolf, bringing the wolf’s arm up behind his back and Derek heard the crack of it as it broke, the cry of pain from the wolf as The Kid got off him and then tilted his head to the box in defiance. The more Derek watched him the more intrigued he became, he could almost imagine that The Kid was glaring at the people in the box, showing them that he would beat anyone in his path and then he was coming for them. 

By the time the final fight came around they were all exhausted, fed up of the bloodshed, it was announced that The Kid would be fighting again and Erica got to her feet nearby.

“I’m going to go place a bet.” She said quickly, “We’re supposed to be blending in, so, I’m going to go blend.” She grinned, pecking Boyd quickly on the lips. 

“Hang on, I’ll come with you.” Aiden said, letting go of Cora’s hand and walking quickly after Erica who was already part way down the steps and grinning back at Aiden. 

Erica placed fifty on The Kid, he had five to one odds which were apparently very good according to Aiden, she didn’t know, she just knew that he’d demolished each of his opponents already today and there was no reason that would change. 

They were just about to head back to their seats when she caught a whiff of something and paused, turning around to look, inhaling again. 

“What’s up?” Aiden muttered quietly. 

“I know that scent.” She whispered, “I just, I can’t quite place it.” She sucked in another lungful of air and stopped still.

“Who is it?” Aiden asked, glancing around at the rest of the pack that were scattered around the ring, none of them looking at them. 

“I think,” Erica paused, glancing around and a snarl being torn from her throat when her eyes landed on her target. 

“Erica! Wait!” Aiden said, chasing after her as she sprinted towards the man who had quickly disappeared through a side door, Erica caught it just before it swung shut and Aiden chased after her. “Who is it?”

“He’s one of the hunters that was there, the night they murdered Stiles, he was there.” Erica snarled, chasing after the man who had vanished from view. Aiden tried to take in his surroundings, figure out where they were so he could find out how to get back and tell the others, but they were moving too quickly, chasing after the guy that Aiden hadn’t even seen yet, rushing past what looked like empty cages, and a few doors that were shut that he thought might lead to offices. 

“Erica!” Aiden called out in shock when an arm swung out in front of her and grabbed her around the throat. 

“Well, what do we have here?” The man taunted, it was obvious that he was a werewolf, his eyes flashing red and Aiden swallowed loudly as Erica kicked out uselessly against him. 

“I’d say they’re trespassers Ford, and you know what we do to trespassers.” A second man said stepping out of the shadows.

“We weren’t trespassing.” Aiden tried, “We thought we saw someone we knew, we were just trying to find him.” 

“And you went through a clearly private door to find him?” Ford teased, “That counts as trespassing to me.” 

“No, no, wait, what are you doing?” Aiden shouted as two more men appeared behind him and grabbed hold of his arms, dragging him behind Ford who was still clutching Erica by the neck as if she weighed nothing. 

Whatever he’d been expecting it wasn’t to be thrown through a door and land on sand. The first thing he took in was the heat, it was so goddamn hot in here that he felt like he could barely breathe, he could hear Erica coughing next to him as she gasped for breath and he reached to touch her arm as the rest of their surroundings became evident. 

“We have two trespassers!” A voice echoed through the speaker nearby and Erica winced as she climbed to her feet, looking at the gladiators surrounding them, the swords twenty feet in front of them, all heads turned in their direction, waiting for the fight to begin, “You know what that means! The fight won’t end until two hearts have stopped!” The announced shouted gleefully above the cheer from the crowd. “The first gladiator to kill these trespassers will be rewarded with a week without any fights!” 

All heads spun in their direction and Aiden tensed, all of these were experienced gladiators, he could see The Kid standing off to the other side of the ring, his head turning slightly to them, then to the gladiators and finally to the swords, Aiden was certain they were going to die in here. 

“Three!” The announcer shouted and the crowd chanted in time with him, “Two! One! Fight!” 

Erica and Aiden both tensed as the gladiators nearest them turned and started their attacks, he thanked god that Chris, Derek and Noah had been so insistent in training them, it meant that they didn’t go down straight away. He had kind of expected to hear Derek roaring, or any of their pack to come running to their aid, but other than the cheers from the crowd everything else was eerily silent. They managed to fend off the first gladiator but Aiden took a claw to the leg before they took him down and by that time the other eighteen were all approaching them and Erica squeezed his hand tightly. 

Suddenly a figure came in from the side of the approaching gladiators, The Kid was holding two short swords in his hands and Aiden could see four smaller knives stashed down the back of his shorts, he could see them because The Kid, for whatever reason, had his back to them, facing down the gladiators in front of them. 

There was a moment of stillness, all of them studying The Kid in front of them warily, Aiden wasn’t sure why he hadn’t already turned around and killed them but he wasn’t going to argue, then, one of the gladiators roared and charged forwards and all hell broke loose. 

The Kid was like some kind of vicious guardian angel, the swords he was wielding moved so fast that they were blurs, Aiden and Erica could only watch in awe as the gladiators stumbled and fell and cried out in pain, Erica let out a squeak of surprise when one of the gladiators dodged around The Kid and charged straight at them, Erica spun to the side, the gladiator managed to scratch her arm before Aiden wrapped a hand around his throat and pulled him backwards away from her. 

Erica had fallen backwards, landing on her hands and the gladiator threw Aiden over his shoulders to the ground so that he practically landed on top of Erica, the gladiator was towering over them and Aiden was sure that this was it, that he was about to die. 

Suddenly there was a sword protruding from the gladiator’s chest and he looked down at it in shock before he collapsed to his knees, The Kid left the sword where it was, already turning around to tackle the next fighter coming their way. He was down a sword now and it didn’t take him long to lose that one too, slashing wildly at another fighter who tried to get past him and losing his grip slightly as the gladiator dropped to the ground.

He was down to the knives in the back of his shorts now and there were still eight gladiators left, Aiden could see the sweat running down The Kids back but he still seemed calm and in control, two of the knives were in his hands before Aiden could blink and then he was fighting again, like a whirlwind taking out one gladiator after the other until, finally, what felt like hours later, The Kid was the only one left standing, his chest heaving as he caught his breath, the moans of pain of the gladiators echoing around them as The Kid finally turned to face them. 

Aiden squinted as the sun caught The Kids helmet, The Kid pulled the sword from the chest of the gladiator next to them and took a step towards them, Erica flinched backwards and Aiden put a hand across her chest to protect her. He heard the exasperated sigh from The Kid as he turned around, stabbed the sword into the gladiator, hitting the heart and Aiden and Erica both heard it stop instantly as there was a cheer from the crowd. 

The Kid bent down smearing his hand in the blood and then moving towards Aiden, Aiden froze, not sure what to do to stop The Kid from doing the same thing to them, he was no match for him, he knew that, he trembled as The Kid reached out and smeared the blood across his face, Aiden scrunching his eyes shut, tasting the blood on his lips and then opening them when there was no pain. The Kid was walking away from him, grabbing another knife from the back of his shorts and moving towards one of the gladiators who was struggling back to his feet, a snarl on his lips. The guy slammed the knife into the gladiator’s skull and there was another round of cheers as his heartbeat stopped, again The Kid coated his hand in blood and then moved back towards them, this time smearing the blood over Erica’s cheeks. 

There was silence above them as The Kid took the last knife from the back of his shorts and drew it across his chest, drawing a faint line of blood and then moving away from them, back to the other side of the ring. Aiden and Erica both sat in shock, not sure what the hell had just happened, the crowd above them didn’t seem to have a clue what was going on either if the silence was anything to go by. 

“Two hearts have stopped; the gladiators have been defeated, our trespassers have claimed their freedom.” The announcer said, the disappointment evident in his voice.

“What does that mean?” Erica muttered from behind his shoulder, “Are we free to go?” She sounded terrified. 

“The trespassers are the victors!” The announcer shouted and a moment later The Kid fell to the ground, his body writhing in agony at the current that ran through it, Erica got unsteadily to her feet, wanting to go towards him, to help him, but Aiden held her back, a moment later the gates opened behind them and the guards waved them out, leading them back to the door they’d come through and stumbling back into the main seating area where the rest of the pack were all looking at them with concern, radiating terror and relief in equal measures. 

Cora and Boyd hugging them tightly, whispering reassurances in their ears, Derek checking them over and seeing that the wounds were already starting to heal. He would never be able to repay the debt he owed The Kid, he’d saved two of his beta’s lives and Derek couldn’t figure out why, but he would have to do his best to pay him back, he’d start by getting him the hell out of there. 

“What the hell were you doing trespassing!?” Jackson hissed and Aiden glanced at Erica who shook her head minutely.

“Not here. We’ll tell you when we’re out of here.” She whispered, looking to Derek who nodded. 

“Go. I’ll be right behind you.” He confirmed.

As the crowds of spectators started to drift towards the exit Derek moved towards the box where the announcer had been earlier, thankfully he was still there. 

“Excuse me.” Derek said politely, “I’d like to speak to whoever is in charge?” 

“That would be me.” Another man said, he was tall, broad and there was a look of insanity in his eyes, he extended his hand out and Derek shook it quickly, “You can call me Logan, and you are?” 

“Derek Hale.” Derek answered. 

“And what can I do for you on this fine day?” 

“It was my beta’s in the ring, your fighter, The Kid, he saved them. I’d like to speak to him, offer him my thanks.” Derek said calmly. 

“Your beta’s are the ones that my men caught trespassing?” Logan asked and Derek nodded calmly.

“I assure you that I will find out why they would do something so reckless, but, for now, I want to offer my thanks to your fighter.” Derek said politely. 

“Well, I’ll be sure to pass on your thanks, but, at present, I believe he’s indisposed.” Derek opened his mouth to speak and Logan held a finger up to silence him, “He will be fighting tomorrow, and, if you are so insistent to speak to him in person, I’m putting him in the auction tomorrow night, if you bid high enough you can thank him all night, although I’ve got to be honest, there’s going to be a lot of competition.” Derek felt kind of sick at the thought of that, he had no intention to bid on anyone, he was only going so he could look around, scope the place out, see if there was a way to get everyone out. He hoped his disgust didn’t show on his face.

“Thank you.” Derek replied stiffly, not sure what else he could say as he excused himself to catch up with the rest of his pack. 

“What the hell were you doing?” Cora shouted as soon as the motel door shut behind them, sealing them off from the rest of the world. Aiden shrugged and looked at Erica and Cora glared at her. 

“The hunter, the hunter that was there, the night they killed him, he was there, I recognised his scent.” Erica muttered.

“What?” Allison said in surprise.

“One of the hunters that was in that basement with us, one of the guys who took Stiles out to the preserve and murdered him, he was there, I remember his scent, I saw him, I went after him, I lost him and ran into the guards instead.” Erica explained.

“You’re sure?” Noah growled and Erica nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

“I won’t ever forget that night, forget either of them, it was him, without a doubt.”

“What the fuck is a hunter doing here? I thought it was a supernatural fight ring?” Peter asked.

“The guy in charge, Logan, he’s not a wolf, he smelled like a human, completely insane, but definitely human.” Derek added.

“Most of the guards are human.” Braeden muttered, “They keep some supernatural ones around, ones they, well, not trust, that’s probably the wrong word, but, that are well trained, that enjoy hurting the gladiators more than possibly hurting the guards.” 

“So it’s mainly run by humans?” Noah clarified.

“I think, although there’s definitely some supernatural creatures in power. Marcus was a wolf before Logan took over. Apparently, Marcus is fighting in the ring now, if he survives fifty fights he gets his freedom back.” Braeden explained. 

“Let me just get this straight,” Lydia huffed, crossing her arms across her chest, “Marcus, who you were doing jobs for, who was in charge of all four rings and who is a werewolf, is now fighting in the ring? You don’t think that maybe he might be willing to pay you to get him out?” Lydia said through clenched teeth, obviously trying to rein in her anger. 

“His money is gone, Logan has it now. From what I’ve heard, Marcus wasn’t willing to put The Kid up on the auction, he was convinced that he’d be able to get the guy to submit to him, and, when he couldn’t, people started saying he was too soft, so, part of the reason Logan is insisting on having The Kid in the auction is because he wants to show he’s not soft or weak.” Braeden said, the words sounding torn from her throat, as if it pained her to say it. 

“So what’s the plan then?” Erica asked.

“The same as it has always been.” Danny suggested, “We go to the auction, we see if there’s a way to get them out, and, if not, we re-plan.” 

“He saved our lives!” Erica snarled, “We can’t just let them auction him off like some kind of prize!”

“Erica, we’ll do everything we can to help him, I know I owe him, he saved two of my beta’s, I will make sure we do everything we can to get him out of there, along with all the other gladiators.” Derek said reasonably. 

“Good, because if you don’t, I will, and then I’ll find the hunter that murdered Stiles and I’ll tear his throat out.” Erica snarled and Noah’s eyes flashed blue behind her.

“Agreed.”

They were all exhausted when morning came, they’d been running over the plans they had, what Erica and Aiden had seen when they were inside, if it was anything helpful, Braeden standing silently in the corner chewing on a fingernail nervously. Derek couldn’t even begin to figure out what was going on with her recently, he knew she didn’t want to deal with the fighting rings, but, surely, she had to see that it was important that he tried to help these people. 

When they got to the colosseum he passed through the usual magical barrier, felt the slight shimmer over his skin and then Derek listened to the roar of the crowd ahead of him, wondering what they were all so excited about already. 

He felt sick, physically sick, Scott was stood next to him and actually excused himself to go to the bathroom, Kira running after him in worry. Erica was clenching the railing so tightly that she was denting it. 

A pole had been erected in the middle of the ring, The Kid had been chained to it, his hands stretched so high above him that his bare feet were barely scraping the floor, he still had his helmet and arm guards on and Derek could see the sweat running off him, mixing in with the blood. His body was a patchwork of black, blue and red, a guard slicing another cut across his stomach and then turning to the crowd, grinning widely and smirking as he turned back to The Kid who could do nothing but wait for the next cut.

“Enough!” A voice echoed out and Derek turned to see Logan standing in his box and smiling down at the crowd below him, “As punishment for the blatant breaking of rules in last night’s fight, The Kid will spend the day on the pole. Let this go as a reminder to anyone who thinks they are above the rules, mess with me and you will be punished.” Logan glared at the crowds and Erica snarled. 

“What rules did he break!?” She hissed, “Two people died, the gladiators were all defeated, that’s what he said had to happen, how the hell is that breaking the rules?” 

“Actually, sweetheart,” A voice said from nearby and Derek turned to see a man sitting in the seat closest to them, a small smile on his lips, “He didn’t break any rules, Logan is just pissed because he didn’t want you and your friend to live, someone has to pay the price for that.” 

“And he thinks it’s okay to do this?” Erica snarled.

“Of course he does. The man is a few screws loose to say the least.” The man whispered, “Besides, The Kid can take it, he’s taken worse than this before.”

“You know quite a bit about him then?” Derek asked moving to sit next to the man, the pack slowly spreading out and taking seats nearby. 

“Yeah, sure do, I saw his first fight, poor kid was terrified, could smell it from here, watched him get cut up right in front of me.” The man paused turning to look at Derek, “Matt by the way.”

“Derek.” Derek grunted in reply, “His first fight? When was that?” 

“Guess, two years ago now? Just over probably. You think he looks small next to the other gladiators now, you should have seen him then, looked like he’d just been snatched out of his mother’s bed.” Matt rambled, keeping his voice low so as to not draw any attention. 

“Is two years a long time to be here? We heard Marcus is fighting to win his freedom, can anyone else do that?” Peter asked from the row above them and Matt chuckled.

“No, nobody else can do that, they’re here for as long as they survive, even the best slip up eventually, apart from The Kid, don’t get me wrong, he nearly died quite a few times in the beginning, but, eventually, he got good, amazing really, blew everyone else out of the water, he’s smart like that, you can almost see him assessing his opponent before he even moves. There’s a few that have been here maybe eighteen months, but only a handful, The Kid is definitely one of the longest surviving fighters, yeah. He’s practically a celebrity in these rings, everyone wants a piece of him.” 

“What else do you know?” Jackson asked curiously.

“I know he had a smart mouth, they beat that out of him eventually, they always do, he used to be funny though, you should have heard some of the shit he came out with, but, now, he won’t speak, even when they hit him, I think he does it just to piss them off, he’s a bit stubborn like that. I heard some of the guards talking, about how they can barely get him to scream anymore, how it annoys the fuck out of them, apparently, he hasn’t spoken in around eleven months. I know he’s tried to escape more times than anyone knows, that he’s been in all three of the other rings at some point or another, occasionally just for a week or two until he nearly escaped again and again, they couldn’t hold him there so they moved him here, that he actually made it past the wall once here, but they caught him again not long after.” Matt took a breath, grinning at them all.

“And?” Peter sighed impatiently, knowing there was more.

“I know that Marcus had a soft spot for him, apparently he’s a virgin and Marcus was waiting, trying to break him, going to get him to consent, don’t ask me why he didn’t just take it, I would have done, will do when I get the chance, although, I also heard that Marcus broke The Kids jaw at least twice when he tried to get a few blowjobs, people got pissed because he couldn’t fight, well, he could, but he wasn’t doing so good, barely beating his opponents, Marcus had to get the caster they’ve got to heal him up so he could go back to fighting, the caster wasn’t overly impressed, she doesn’t mind healing them up from fights, but otherwise, she doesn’t want to deal with that shit. Guess he didn’t want to have to go to the caster again if he broke something else more vital trying to rape him.” Matt commented casually, as if it didn’t matter to him one way or the other, Derek was going off the guy rapidly.

“Do you know how he escaped? When he got past the wall?” Ethan asked and Matt shrugged.

“I don’t know, although I’m pretty sure however he did it the guards have made sure he can’t get out that way again.” Matt shrugged. 

“Well, thanks for the information.” Derek said, getting to his feet and moving away from Matt, feeling more uneasy by the second as he watched the fight in the ring, how both opponents took the time to land their own shattering punches to The Kid who was still chained helplessly to the pole. 

Derek’s mind was racing, The Kid had figured a way out, if Derek could just talk to him, maybe he could figure out if there were any other weaknesses that they could take advantage of.

“We could try and buy him at the auction?” Lydia suggested. 

“No.” Braeden said quickly, a little too quickly in Derek’s opinion, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to the auction, there’s too many unknown’s, what if it’s a trap, Logan obviously isn’t happy that Erica and Aiden survived, he knows they are your beta’s, what if it is just a way to lure you in and then they kill you?” 

“Most of the crowd is going.” Isaac said, “They’re all talking about how The Kid is up for auction, I don’t think it’s going to be a trap if most of the people here now are going to be there.” 

“If we can get him alone then we can find out if he knows how to get out of here, if there’s some way we can help him get out of here.” Noah whispered. 

“What if Braeden is right though? What if it’s a trap?” Melissa whispered into Noah’s ear.

“I don’t think it is.” He muttered in reply, “Maybe it’s best if you stay at the motel though, just in case.” 

“No.” Melissa glared at him, “We’re together, we look out for each other, there’s no way in hell I’m waiting at the motel when you could all be in danger.” Noah looked ready to argue but as soon as he saw the look on Melissa’s face he knew she wasn’t going to change her mind and he smiled fondly, the woman could be so goddamn stubborn sometimes.

As the day progressed the fights became more brutal and Derek winced several times, he couldn’t understand how anybody could find enjoyment in this, Aiden had spoken to him about the odd feeling in the ring, that noise didn’t seem to travel through correctly, that he’d only heard the cheers of the crowd, even though Derek had told him that the whole pack had been shouting and screaming for the fight to be stopped, that Derek had tried to jump down into the ring to help them but that some kind of invisible barrier had bounced him back. Aiden told him about the heat, how it had been so hot he could barely think straight, his throat parched after only moments in there, Erica had confirmed that she’d felt the same way and Derek felt sick at the thought of these gladiators being forced to fight in that atmosphere, at the thought of The Kid who had been chained in there for hours now and yet was somehow still on his feet, he was tough.

“Our next warriors!” The announcer called out and Derek watched as two gladiators walked out into the ring, “Shane and Marcus!” There were cheers of excitement from the crowd, Derek was watching the gladiators, wondering which of them was Marcus, the one who had run this place before Logan. He guessed that Marcus was the slightly taller one, the one not wearing a helmet and with a mop of blonde hair, only because a wide grin stretched across his face when he caught sight of The Kid tied up helplessly, Derek wanted to kill him for that look alone. 

Shane charged straight at Marcus as soon as the fight started, Marcus dodged his claws easily, moving backwards towards the middle of the ring and circling Shane like prey, Derek could tell instantly that Marcus was a good fighter, that if he went up against The Kid he might beat him, he’d obviously had a lot of practice. 

Within a few minutes, Shane was bleeding heavily on the ground and Marcus was smirking at him as he claimed his victory before striding towards the pole with a look of determination on his face. His fist collided solidly with the side of The Kid’s face, with enough force that the helmet dented, The Kid had sucked in a sharp breath but other than that there was no evidence that he’d just taken a direct hit from a werewolf. 

Marcus turned around to face the crowd who cheered triumphantly and he smiled widely, turning back around to grab The Kid around the throat and lift him slightly higher from the ground, his hands pulling uselessly on the chains as he tried to shove the hands away from his throat. 

“You think he’s had enough!?” Marcus roared to the crowd, they only shouted back more encouragement and Allison looked like she was about to throw up, Erica was growling and Scott actually had his claws out. Marcus leaned in towards The Kid, their faces only an inch apart, Marcus laughing as he lifted The Kid just a little higher, his claws digging into the soft flesh of his throat, Derek saw The Kid tense up, as if he was preparing for something and when Marcus closed the distance between them a moment later, his lips pressing hungrily against The Kids, it didn’t exactly surprise Derek. What did surprise him was when Marcus pulled away a moment later hissing in pain and spitting out blood, Marcus went to hit him again, and in a move so quick Derek nearly missed it, The Kid wrapped his hands around the chains holding him in place, pulled his legs up, trapping Marcus’ arms between them and then twisting violently so that Marcus fell to the floor, The Kid followed up with a solid kick to the face and Marcus’ head lolled to the side as he lost consciousness. The crowd went wild, screaming applause at The Kid, the guards coming in and dragging Shane and Marcus from the ring, Marcus woke up as he was being dragged towards the gate and started trying to get back to his feet, screaming curses at The Kid. 

“You best watch your back you little bitch, I’ll kill you, I’ll fucking kill you!” Marcus was screaming violently; The Kid didn’t seem bothered at all and Derek couldn’t help but be curious, every time something happened he found himself more interested in The Kid, he wasn’t going to deny he was attracted to him, he had an incredible body, he was strong, fast, lethal, it was attractive, he glanced at Braeden a little guiltily as if she could sense his attraction, he wouldn’t act on it, would never act on it, he was with her and he cared about her and he wouldn’t mess this up just because some kid was apparently smart and reckless as well as incredibly hot. 

The sun started to slip behind the colosseum walls, The Kid was unchained from the pole and his knees gave way, Derek could see the tremors in his hands as he forced himself back to his feet, trying not to move too quickly, the bruises looked worse now he was moving, the way he held one arm tight to his side suggested that either his ribs were broken or his arm was, Derek was going to go with ribs considering the large black bruise there. 

The guards were still in the ring and two stood pointing tasers at The Kid as two others took the pole down and left the ring. Derek watched with something akin to horror as the ground opened up and the same wall of swords and knives appeared as they had the nights before, they couldn’t be expecting The Kid to fight, could they?

“Now, as the final punishment for his disregard for the rules yesterday, the first gladiator in our fight tonight is The Kid!” The announcer roared and Derek could feel the panic from the rest of the pack, this fight would get him killed and if he died there was no way they were going to figure out how to get the slaves out of here. “Followed by, Madness!” The announcer called and Derek watched in despair as the gladiators appeared in the ring one by one, all of them eyeing The Kid evilly, when Marcus’ name was called he flashed a smile that was all teeth and his claws were already out. Derek didn’t need to be a genius to figure out that every one of these gladiators had a serious vendetta with The Kid, his heart was racing, The Kid was going to get killed tonight and there was nothing he could do about it. 

The instant they were allowed to move The Kid seemed to forget about his injuries, sprinting forwards, knowing that his only hope was to get to the weapons before the gladiators got to him, sliding through the legs of one gladiator, using the guards on his arms to block a blow from another, roundhouse kicking a third in the face and then snatching a sword from the wall and swinging it quickly. 

Derek was on the edge of his seat, shaking with anticipation, the crowd was shouting encouragement to The Kid, Erica and Aiden were shouting louder than all of them, practically screaming.

“Hit him in the face! Knock him out! You can do it!” Erica screamed, Derek hoped The Kid could hear it, that he could know that almost the entire stadium was cheering for him, he watched as he took down one gladiator then the next, keeping his back to the wall of swords so that he only faced attack from the front, Noah was right, The Kid was smart, even with his injuries, with the fact that he hadn’t had any water or anything to eat all day, he was still taking on the gladiators, he was still defeating them. 

“I’m going to have so much fun with you later.” Marcus snarled when there were only three of them left standing, The Kid stood motionless and tense, ready and watching for the attack that was about to come, the crowd had silenced around them and Derek could hear the moans of pain from the downed gladiators in the ring. “When you’ve been sold, when somebody has had the privilege of fucking your nice virgin ass, I’m going to come for you and I won’t be gentle, I’ll make you fucking wish you’d just been nice to me when I was in charge. The second you close your eyes I’m going to come for you.” 

The Kid showed no reaction to his words, although Derek could see the grip on his swords tighten slightly, then, suddenly the other gladiator charged from the side and The Kid spun lightly on his feet, the sword slicing across his face as Marcus took advantage of the distraction and slammed into The Kid’s side, knocking him to the ground, straddling his hips and doing his best to pull the sword from his hand by grabbing his wrist and slamming it into the ground repeatedly until his grip finally broke, the second gladiator recovering from the sword across his cheek, coming around the side of the struggling duo and kicking The Kid harshly in the ribs, Derek heard the gasp of pain that time, he was sure more of the creatures with supernatural hearing had heard it.

“Get up!” Aiden shouted, “Come on Kid!” Aiden screamed, he sounded petrified and Derek couldn’t help but agree with him. If anyone ever asks him he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to say exactly what happened next, The Kid bucked his hips violently, throwing Marcus slightly off balance, then he surged upwards, a knife gripped between his teeth and slamming it into the second gladiator’s eye, Derek had no idea where the knife had come from, he thought it might have been lying on the floor nearby but he couldn’t be sure, the guy was on the floor screaming, clutching at the knife in his eye and sobbing in agony. 

Marcus dug his claws into The Kid’s side as he stabilised himself but The Kid was having none of it, he twisted quickly, his hand wrapping around the sword that had been dropped only moments before, slicing it through the air and Derek could only watch with fascination as the sword cut deep into its target, hitting the bone, Marcus crying in agony, The Kid pulling the sword out and throwing Marcus off easily, scrambling to his feet, and standing above Marcus, the sword to his throat, panting heavily but still on his feet, victorious.

The crowd erupted into applause as The Kid was announced the victor, Derek found himself clapping just as loud as everyone else, unable to believe that The Kid had pulled it off, there was blood dripping from the puncture marks at his neck and the claw marks at his hips and he looked deadly and beautiful, Aiden had been right when he called him a vicious guardian angel, Derek did his best to commit this moment to memory, he wanted to be able to paint it perfectly when they got home. 

“The auction will begin in an hour, all those with invitations please make your way to the rear of the colosseum where you will be provided with refreshments during your wait, everyone else, we’ll see you in the morning, be sure to come bright and early to catch all the entertainment.” The announcer said and Derek watched as people got to their feet, still discussing the last fight, only a small number of them moving towards the exit, while the rest were making their way towards the back of the colosseum. 

There was another door here, different to the one Erica and Aiden had gone through, they mingled in with the crowd and, a few minutes later, followed everyone through the door, they were led down a narrow staircase, Derek was at the front, if he was going to be leading his pack into a trap then he was going to make sure that he was at least at the front, that he would protect them as best he could. 

At the bottom of the staircase was a reasonable sized room, there were tables of food and drinks along each side of the room, and a set of double doors at the far end, Derek didn’t feel like it was a trap but his instincts had been wrong before so he tried to keep his wits about him, although the air of excitement that was running through the room suggested that nobody here was interested in him or any of his pack.

He assumed that the gladiators had to make themselves as presentable as possible, or more likely, that the guards were making them more presentable, he couldn’t imagine any of the gladiators actually wanting to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, especially not The Kid. 

“The auction will begin momentarily.” Logan said loudly to the room, standing in front of the double doors, “As there are a few newcomers this month let me explain how this works, in a minute we will be opening the doors, tonight there are fifty gladiators available for purchase, before the auction begins you will be allowed half an hour to consider your options, you may ask the gladiators any questions that relate to the activities later tonight, any other questions will not be answered.”

“Surely it doesn’t matter what they want?” A man scoffed from the other side of the room and Derek fought the urge to growl at him. 

“No, it doesn’t, but, you may prefer to find a gladiator that you would be compatible with.” Logan replied sounding irritated.

“I don’t care if we’re compatible or not, so long as The Kid takes my cock deep in his ass I don’t really mind if he doesn’t laugh at my jokes.” The man joked, several people around him laughing and Derek clenching his fists as he struggled to control his claws.

“Well, be that as it may, he goes to the highest bidder, as do all of our gladiators, with that in mind, welcome.” Logan finished as the doors behind him opened slowly. 

They wandered into the room about half way through the crowd, there had to be at least four hundred people in here and Derek knew a lot of them would be leaving dissatisfied tonight. The room was circular, much like the ring above it, Derek was almost sure that they were directly below the ring and he wondered if that might be a possible way out, it was lit by small lights around the edge of the room, it made the room feel a little smaller than it was, there was a stage in the middle of the room, lit up brightly, Derek figured that was where the gladiators would be stood when they were auctioned off. 

“We should split up.” Isaac said, “See if we find anything interesting?” 

“Meet us on the other side.” Derek whispered as Jackson, Peter, Isaac, Lydia and Cora wandered to the right, Kira, Erica, Boyd, Danny and Chris moved towards the stage and the rest followed Derek to the left, Noah clenching Melissa’s hand tightly as they walked slowly, trying to make it look like they were interested in what was in front of them. 

Braeden was almost shaking with nerves and Derek tried to shrug it off, when this was all over he was going to have to speak to her about what had her so spooked about this place, he knew the place was awful, that there were fights and slaves and blood and fear, but he didn’t think it deserved this reaction from her. So far he had seen various degrees of chains in place, that although it looked like the gladiators had been healed from their most recent fights ,scrubbed clean and dressed in clean shorts, they were still slaves, they still had the collars around their necks, most had their wrists chained together and he’d seen a few where their feet were chained together too. He was stood in front of one gladiator, looking not at her but the door behind her, wondering if it was a way out, when there was a loud smack from somewhere to his right. 

“You will speak when you are asked a question.” A guard hissed angrily and a moment later Derek smelt blood, he turned slightly, seeing a large crowd gathered around one gladiator, something inside him told him that it had to be The Kid, that he could be the only one drawing that kind of crowd. He glanced at Scott who was biting his bottom lip in worry before he nodded firmly and they moved towards the crowd, Derek took another deep breath in and froze, in a crowd this big most scents mixed together, but there was one, one that was oddly familiar, wrong in so many ways, filled with pain and rage and fear, but there was something deeper than that, something that had always smelled like home to him. He shoved through the crowd, ignoring the way that Scott called out after him or others glared at him as he pushed them out of the way, he had to know, had to be certain. 

He could hear his pack behind him, calling to him, asking him what the hell was going on, but he couldn’t answer them, couldn’t think straight, he had to know. He pushed forward until eventually he managed to make it to the front of the crowd and stared at the gladiator in front of him.

Erica was almost half way around the circle when she saw the hunter that had been there that night, he was leaning against the wall chatting to three other guards, a sick smile on his face, if there had ever been any doubt before, she knew now for certain, she would never be able to forget that smile, Boyd’s hand tightened around hers and she knew he’d seen him too, she looked across for the rest of their pack, needing to point him out to Derek, she saw the others moving towards the front of the crowd around The Kid, Noah rushing after Derek, she went after them, dragging the others behind her.

“Derek!” Noah said, catching up with him and putting a hand to his shoulder, looking at his Alpha with worry, “What are you doing?” Noah hissed, turning to stare at whatever had Derek so captivated. He felt his legs give out, Scott catching him was the only reason he stayed upright. “Stiles?” Noah whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

Stiles’ eyes shot towards the crowd at the sound of his own name, whereas before he’d been glaring at the guard who had smacked him across the face, letting the guard know that the instant he got these chains off Stiles would kill him, he had got quite good at expressing himself without having to say a single word and the look of fear on the guard’s face, if only for the briefest of moments, told him he’d done a good job. 

The last thing he’d ever expected to see was his dad, his dad was standing right in front of him, at the front of the crowd, looking so pale and terrified that Stiles wanted to move towards him and comfort him but he couldn’t, the chains around his arms and legs were holding him tightly in place. 

“You’re alive.” Another voice muttered and Stiles tore his gaze from his father to look at the person who had spoken, Scott, Scott who had been his best friend, Scott who had betrayed him, Stiles glared at him, hoping he managed to convey just how much he hated Scott, there was a commotion behind them and suddenly the pack he knew were shoving their way to the front of the crowd, Lydia, Allison, Melissa, Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Danny, Chris, Jackson and Peter, he thought they’d both been dead but apparently not, and Derek, Derek who was standing there with a stupid look on his face, as if his entire world had just being shattered. Maybe it had been, he guessed the Alpha would never have expected to see him again, the bastard should have been more sure he was dead before forgetting all about him. The others letting out mutters of shock and horror, Melissa’s hand going to her mouth and tears filling her eyes, he figured he must look worse than he felt, there were more people behind them, people he didn’t recognise, one of them had been the boy in the ring yesterday, the one with Erica, he guessed the other one had to be his twin, he didn’t know who the other two girls were but they looked at him like they knew he was.

“You’re dead.” Lydia muttered in shock and Stiles rolled his eyes, if he was dead then so were Peter and Jackson and they looked very much alive from his point of view.

“Hey!” The guard shouted when his dad moved forward to touch him, “No touching, if you want that then you pay for it.” His dad’s eyes flashed blue in response and Stiles scowled, gritting his teeth. 

“So much for protecting him Scotty.” Stiles practically spat out and Scott looked like Stiles had physically slapped him, good, it was the least he deserved, the words had felt rough torn from his throat, the first words he’d spoken in almost a year and he’d wasted them, wasted on his piece of shit best friend who’d left him for dead. The guard was staring at Stiles in surprise, as were all the other spectators to this little event, Stiles glared at him again, daring him to say something, instead he got another smack across the face.

“You don’t speak unless you’re answering a question, I thought you knew that by now?” The guard mocked and Stiles glared at him for a moment before turning back to his father, Noah’s eyes were staying blue now, as if he was an inch away from losing control, Stiles wouldn’t allow that, had seen first-hand that the guards would put down anyone who lost control if they felt like it, instead he shook his head minutely, telling his father to leave it, a smack across the face wasn’t that big of a deal anyway.

“You’re The Kid?” Derek managed to growl out eventually and Stiles turned his attention to him, hoping he could convey his disgust without speaking, Derek, Derek was worse than Scott, Stiles had thought he could trust him, thought he’d been part of the pack and Derek was his Alpha, how mistaken he had been. 

“Alright, move on, let other people get a look.” The guard shouted, waving at the pack to move on, Stiles was suddenly brought back to the reality that he was about to be sold, his virginity sold to the highest fucking bidder, he let out a controlled breath, hoping that nobody around him could smell the panic that was radiating inside him, he had gotten better at controlling his emotions though so he hoped it would be okay.

Derek had been stunned into silence, barely able to process what he was looking at, Stiles, it was Stiles, he was older than Derek remembered, obviously, his hair had grown out slightly and was a mop of dark strands sticking up in all directions, he was taller too, maybe only an inch between them in height, and he was all muscle, up close Derek could clearly see that Stiles was ripped, his body was covered in several smaller cuts and bruises from the day’s events that hadn’t been healed for whatever reason, at least the big ones had been Derek was grateful for that, and older scars, the most distinguishing of which were the claw marks that travelled from his hip to his shoulder, he shuddered at the thought of Stiles, the flailing kid that had captured his heart, being thrown into a ring with a werewolf. His gaze moved to the tattoos on his side, it was an intricate design of eight different spirals, each one a different colour, blending into each other seamlessly, finally, he managed to speak, the words sounding idiotic even to his own ears, of course Stiles was The Kid, Stiles was alive, Jesus Christ he was alive. Derek couldn’t process this.

Stiles glared at him, his eyes filled with such hate and disgust that Derek felt himself shy away from that gaze, Stiles was still alive, had always been alive and Derek hadn’t looked for him, hadn’t thought he could possibly be alive, had left him here alone for over two years, Stiles had every right to hate him, god, Derek hated himself in this instant, how could he have let Stiles down so massively?

The guard was telling them to move out of the way and Derek couldn’t control the way his eyes flashed red, Stiles was alive, there was no way in hell he was moving anywhere, he saw six other guards approaching them and Derek tried to rein in his wolf, starting a fight now wouldn’t do them any good.

“Stiles.” Noah whispered, his voice cracking and tears flowing down his cheeks. Stiles’ eyes softened as he looked at his father, for the first time he looked like the child he was and it made Derek seethe with rage, these bastards had held Stiles captive for years, they’d pay for that. He’d make them pay for that. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, the auction is about to begin.” A voice called, it sounded far away, the blood roaring in his ears, Stiles was alive, god, Stiles was alive and standing right in front of him, he couldn’t leave him, couldn’t watch him get hurt any more. 

“Derek.” Peter whispered, “We need a plan.” 

“I know.” Derek growled, they couldn’t go up against all of the guards that were starting to gather nearby, not to mention they didn’t know who was friend or foe in the surrounding crowd. 

Scott stared at Stiles, his bottom lip quivering, his eyes filled with tears, Stiles was alive and he hated Scott, hated him, there was no other word for it, of course Scott deserved it, he’d abandoned Stiles, left him alone, Scott was the worst best friend in the history of the world, no wonder Stiles hated him.

The crowd was starting to gather around the stage but Derek couldn’t tear his gaze from Stiles, he had to get him out of here, he had to fix this. 

“We’re not going to leave you here Stiles, we’re going to get you out.” Noah muttered under his breath, Stiles didn’t look like he believed him though and that broke Derek’s heart. 

“Our first gladiator for auction tonight is the wonderful Massacre, he’s been fighting here for eight months, won thirty fights, has six kills under his belt, and is yours for the night, let’s start the bidding at one thousand dollars.” The auctioneer said from behind his podium, Derek was so tense he was practically vibrating. 

Massacre was sold for twelve thousand dollars in the end, led off the stage with a scowl on his face, a collar around his throat and his hands chained in front of him. The auctioneer explained that the winner, once they’d confirmed the transfer of funds, could go upstairs to room six at his leisure in order to claim his prize, Derek felt sick. 

“Derek,” Scott whispered panicked as the next gladiator was dragged up to the stage, “We have to do something, they’re going to auction him off!” 

“I’m aware Scott.” Derek replied through gritted teeth, what the hell was he supposed to do? There was no way they were going to fight their way out of here, not with the number of guards that were hanging around nearby. He needed to come up with a plan and he needed to figure it out now. 

The auction continued, listening to the random facts that were spouted off about each person, their fights, their kills, any other interesting information, he could smell the terror wafting off his pack, they couldn’t just stand there and watch, they had to do something. 

“Our next gladiator is The Kid.” The auctioneer called and Derek was sure he’d stopped breathing, Stiles was dragged up to the stage, stumbling slightly as the chains around his feet were stretched too far as he tried to walk, he snarled at the auctioneer when he got closer, glared at everyone else, Derek fought back a shiver, Stiles looked dangerous, feral almost, “Now, a few interesting facts before we start the bidding, The Kid has been with us for just over two years now, our longest surviving gladiator, he’s won over fifteen hundred fights, has one hundred and eighty-two kills to his name and, most importantly for all you here tonight, is a virgin. So, since he’s such a high value prize, let’s start with a high value bid, do I hear thirty thousand?” 

Derek couldn’t believe the figures, Stiles had won fifteen hundred fights, had killed over a hundred and eighty people, he could barely process it. The bids were already up to fifty thousand and Stiles looked like he was going to be sick. 

“Bid on him!” Lydia hissed dramatically and Derek could only stare at her in shock, she wanted him to do what!? “Sixty thousand!” Lydia shouted and all eyes turned to her, she blushed slightly but refused to back down.

“Lydia what the hell are you doing!?” Jackson whispered to her. 

“The only way we’re going to get to speak to Stiles on his own, find out if there’s a way to get him and everyone else out of here, is without guards, which means one of us has to win the auction.” Lydia explained quickly, the bid was already over a hundred thousand, the auctioneer had a wide smile on his face and Stiles was glaring at the stage, his features tight with rage, refusing to even look out into the crowd any more. 

“One hundred and fifty!” Derek shouted, the words out of his mouth before he’d even processed what he was going to do. 

“Derek!” Braeden whispered looking at him in shock.

“You heard Lydia, if we have any chance of getting him out of here we need to find out what he knows!” Derek replied, doing his best not to sound as angry as he felt.

“Derek! Bid again!” Noah practically shouted and Derek looked at the auctioneer who was about to sell Stiles.

“Two hundred!” He shouted, the crowds were parting slightly so he could see who he was bidding against, seeing Matt and the man from the waiting room earlier both glaring at him. 

“Two ten!” Matt said.

“Twenty!” The other man called.

“Fifty!” Derek said, he didn’t care how much it cost, he was not going to let either of those men get their hands on Stiles. 

“Any other bids?” The auctioneer asked, “Alright, going once, twice…”

“Two fifty-five.” Matt bid. 

“Sixty.” Derek glared at him and Matt flashed purple eyes at him, obviously losing control slightly with rage, Derek didn’t have time to even get curious about what he was, he’d never seen purple eyes before. 

“Sixty-two!” The other man shouted. 

“Eighty!” Derek offered, hoping that the sudden jump in price would make both men back out, instead they looked at each other and then nodded in understanding. 

“Three fifty!” Matt said and Derek glanced at the pack for an explanation. 

“They’ve joined forces.” Danny hissed, “Bid higher!”

“Four fifty!” Derek shouted, the crowd all looking at him like he was insane, even Stiles was staring at him now rather than the floor. 

“Five!” Matt snarled. 

“Six!” Derek replied drastically, there was a moment of silence as the auctioneer looked between them before grinning. 

“Alright, if there’s no other bids?” There was silence, “Okay, going once, twice and sold to the man in black! You’ll be able to go up to room twelve to collect your prize shortly and congratulations on your win, I know we’re all jealous!” There were hundreds of people glaring at Derek that supported that theory, Stiles was dragged unceremoniously from the stage and Derek couldn’t believe what he’d done. 

“Okay, you need to find out how he escaped in the past, if there’s any way he can do it again, if we can help in any way, if there’s any chance of bringing this all down from the inside.” Peter rambled and Derek wasn’t sure he was going to remember all of that, the blood was still thundering in his ears, Stiles was alive, and, god, he’d bid on him, these people all thought he was going to have sex with Stiles, god, he couldn’t, he couldn’t breathe. 

“Derek!” Noah snapped and Derek turned to look at him, “Focus.” Derek sucked in a deep breath, swallowing loudly and nodded, “We need to get him out of here, right now I don’t give a fuck about anybody else in here, I want him out, you understand? So, you find out everything he knows about this place and then we get him the hell out of here.” 

“Yes sir.” Derek said seriously, he could do this, Stiles needed their help, Derek had to help them. 

“And, tell him, tell him how much I love him, how proud I am of him?” Noah added and Derek felt his chest constrict at those words, he nodded tightly before turning away from his pack. He made his way to the cashier, thanking god that at least he had sold his paintings for so much, otherwise this would have put a serious dent in his bank balance, although, it was worth it, he would have paid a thousand times that if it meant he got to spend any time with Stiles. 

It took ten minutes for the funds to be approved and transferred and Derek was handed a key card, he thought he might throw up, he was led to a side door he hadn’t noticed earlier and then up two sets of wide stairs. When the second door was opened, Derek gasped in amazement, it looked like they were in the hallway of a five-star hotel, it was beautiful. 

“Room twelve is this way sir.” One of the guards in front of him said and Derek followed them, there were a further two guards stood outside of each room they passed, holding tasers and smirking at Derek as he passed them. Finally, he came to a stop outside room twelve and looked at the two guards there and the other two that had led him here. 

“Do you wait out here all night?” Derek asked.

“Well, we can wait inside if you’d prefer? I know I would.” One of them laughed and Derek fought back the growl he felt in the back of his throat. 

“No thank you.” He snapped. 

“Alright, so, there’s a couple of rules we need to make clear.” The second guard said and Derek met his gaze, “Firstly, we don’t appreciate the attempt to leave any permanent marks, our caster gets pissed off if she has to heal broken bones etc, so, we’d prefer you didn’t do any serious damage.” Derek nodded, feeling sick that this even had to be explained to him, “Secondly, as an Alpha, you are not allowed to bite him in any way at any point. Thirdly, at no point during the night are you allowed to remove the chains, they stay on at all times, should you attempt to remove them then you will be removed from the premises.”

“Okay.” Derek nodded in agreement. 

“As I’m sure you know, The Kid is more volatile than some of the other gladiators available this evening, because of that we’ve had to make some special arrangements.” 

“What kind of arrangements?” Derek asked, he thought he managed to sound quite calm under the circumstances.

“Firstly, there are cameras in the room, we’ve done our best not to intrude on your privacy, but, Logan insisted that we have eyes on him at all times, especially since he likes to try and escape.” 

“Fine. Do you have sound?” Derek growled and the guard shook his head, Derek wasn’t happy about the cameras, but at least without sound he might find a way to work around them, he needed to talk to Stiles, “Anything else?” 

“Yes.” The guard said, “He decided to put up a bit of a fight, unfortunately before we could get him settled we had to subdue him slightly, it’s probably a good thing for you though, make things go a little easier.” 

“Subdue him how?” Derek said, not able to hide the snarl in his voice now, what had these men done to Stiles?

“Don’t worry, it’ll wear off before the end of the night if you prefer them to put up more of a fight.” The second guard scoffed and Derek felt his eyes flash red before he forced his wolf back under control. 

“Fine, is that it? Can I go in now?” He snapped through gritted teeth. 

“Yes, they’ll be a knock on the door ten minutes before your time is up and another when you need to leave.”

“Great.” Derek replied tersely, already stepping towards the door, handing over the key card he’d been given downstairs and watching as the guard opened the door and then Derek entered the room and shut the door after him, relaxing against it for just a moment before he looked around. 

Stiles was chained to the bed, stripped down to a pair of tight black boxers and his eyes half-closed, Derek wasn’t sure that Stiles even knew he was there right now. He looked around the room, noticing the cameras in each corner, which meant there were no blind spots, perfect. He sighed heavily, so much for just being able to talk to Stiles. 

He moved towards the bed and Stiles didn’t show any recognition, when Derek took another deep breath he could smell the drugs and he tried not to growl at it, instead he move closer, bending over Stiles’ face slightly, watched as his eyes opened slightly, turned to look at Derek, but they didn’t focus, didn’t show any signs of recognition.

“Stiles?” Derek whispered, “Can you hear me?” He reached out and brushed his hand across Stiles’ cheek and Stiles let out a little exhale of air, not really a sigh, and Derek wasn’t sure what he was supposed to take from that. “It’s Derek, I’m here to get you out.” Derek shifted his hand slightly, feeling the soft skin of Stiles’ cheek under his palm, the chains rattled pathetically as Stiles tried to pull away from him and Derek felt like a weight had settled in his stomach. “Listen, it’s me Stiles, I’m not going to hurt you, you have to believe that.” Stiles’ eyes fluttered closed for a moment before they opened again, as if Stiles was fighting with everything he had just to stay awake. 

Derek knew that if he didn’t start doing something soon it would look suspicious so, with a bit of work, he managed to get the sheets out from under Stiles and then throw them over him, he glared at the nearest camera and then stripped down to his boxers, before pulling the sheets back, climbing on top of Stiles and then pulling the sheets back over them so that all the cameras would be able to see was the vague shape of two people under the sheets. 

Stiles was trembling, Derek could smell the fear rolling off him and he felt sick, instead he placed a hand on Stiles’ arm and started sucking the pain from him, almost doubling over with the strength of it, and resting his forehead against Stiles’ bare shoulder as he tried to breathe through it. 

“It’s okay Stiles, we’re going to get you out of here.” Derek muttered, hoping at least some of this was getting through to Stiles. 

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, a couple of hours, maybe more, he drained the pain for as long as he could until he just couldn’t take any more, it just hurt too much. Stiles started shifting, pulling on the chains that clanged against the headboard, Derek guessed that it meant Stiles was feeling a little better. He pulled his head up and looked up to meet Stiles’ gaze, his eyes were filled with rage and fear and Derek did his best not to fall apart at that look. 

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you, it’s alright.” Derek reassured him, glad to see that at least the drug seemed to be wearing off, Stiles looked down, obviously gesturing to the fact that Derek’s bare skin was pressed against his and the only clothing between them were their boxers, he arched his eyebrow in query and Derek blushed, “No, nothing like that, they’ve got cameras, I needed to make sure they thought something was going on, that’s all.”

Stiles nodded tightly and Derek let out a little sigh of relief, hating that Stiles was still silent, he hated it, he wanted him to talk again, to ramble, to tell him random facts about butterflies in the sixteenth century or something equally as odd. 

“We need to know how to get you out of here, tell me how to help.” Derek pleaded and Stiles just looked at him with distrust in his eyes. “Stiles, you have to trust me, you have to let me help you, let us help you. Your dad needs you out of here.”

“I don’t trust you.” Stiles whispered, his voice cracking slightly and Derek let out a long sigh, those words fracturing something inside him, no matter how much he deserved them. Ironic that Derek had never wanted to trust Stiles, despite Stiles proving it multiple times, until it was too late, and now, when he needed Stiles to trust him, more than anything, Stiles would probably never trust him again. 

“I know you don’t, that’s my fault and I’m sorry Stiles, I swear if I’d known you were alive, that you were here, I would have been here.” Derek said, watching as Stiles’ eyes closed for a moment before they fluttered open again, obviously the drug wasn’t completely out of his system. “Listen, even if you don’t trust me, trust your dad, he won’t leave you here, let us help you.” 

Stiles pulled harder on the chains and they didn’t move, Derek placed his hands over Stiles’, keeping them from moving and Stiles brought his leg up, swiftly kneeing Derek in the stomach, Derek moved one of his hands, shoving Stiles’ leg into the mattress and then pinning him down with his legs. 

“What the fuck Stiles!?” Derek hissed, trying to catch his breath. 

“Get off me.” Stiles shouted, still struggling under him, doing his best to destabilize Derek from his position. 

“No. Now fucking calm down.” Derek said, pressing harder into Stiles to keep him from moving, “Just fucking listen to me, your dad is not going to let you stay here, he’ll do everything he can to get you out of here, so, either tell me how to help so we can at least have some kind of plan, or you can let him come in here without a plan and probably end up as a slave as well or get himself killed, so, are you going to speak to me or not?” Stiles was glaring at him, “Come on Stiles, you used to be incapable of shutting up, tell me how to help.” He pleaded, Stiles was obviously thinking about what Derek had said and he prayed to god that he’d got through to him. 

“Fight tomorrow night.” Stiles said a few minutes later and Derek looked at him in confusion. “Cut the power. Room under Logan’s box.” He explained in clipped tones. 

“How do we get in the room? Is it guarded? What happens when the power is cut? Before the fight or after it?” Derek asked quickly, Stiles looked like he was in physical pain at having to answer all the questions and Derek swallowed heavily, taking a breath, “Before?” Stiles shook his head, “After?” Another shake, “During?” Derek asked uncertainly and Stiles nodded. “Alright, guards?” Another nod, “Outside?” A shake and Derek tried to find the good in that, if they were inside the room there probably wouldn’t be any evidence of a disturbance outside, “One?” No, “Two?” Yes, “The door opens with a key card?” A nod. “Shit, how do we get one?” Derek muttered and Stiles glared at him incredulously, “Okay, we’ll figure it out.” 

Derek had a thousand more questions that he wanted to ask but Stiles already looked like he was at the end of his patience, Derek couldn’t help but smile when he met his eyes, because, yeah Stiles was a slave, and he was hurt and in pain and he’d obviously been through hell, but he was alive, he was right here, in front of him, underneath him. 

“I can’t believe you are alive Stiles.” He whispered, slowly levering himself off Stiles again, hoping he wasn’t going to get another knee to the chest. “We’ll get you out of here, I swear to you.” Stiles huffed out a mirthless laugh, that Derek’s promises meant nothing to him. He wanted to tell Stiles how grateful he was that he’d shared even part of a plan with Derek, but he could imagine the response he’d get, Stiles would glare at him and then tell Derek how he hadn’t done it for him, instead he didn’t say anything and there was just a stony silence from Stiles. 

“Okay, look, I paid for the night and I’m a little worried that if I leave now the guards out there are going to take advantage of that situation, so, instead, I’m going to stay here, is that okay?” Derek rambled. Stiles studied him for a minute but finally nodded, Derek shifted slightly, trying not to think about the feel of Stiles’ body under his, the last thing they needed was an awkward boner right now, because Stiles felt good, so god damn good, and Derek could not do anything about it. He rolled to the side, rolling partially off Stiles and onto the mattress, thanking god that Stiles couldn’t smell his arousal right now, he was so messed up, it was idiotic. Derek was afraid to close his eyes, that if he did, when he opened them again, Stiles would be gone, he’d find out that he’d imagined this whole thing, maybe he was still asleep, maybe this was a dream, he looked again at the tattoos that trailed down Stiles’ side and shook his head, he might dream about Stiles, but he’d never dream about him like this, a slave, chained up, beaten and bruised but not broken, there was still that same defiance in his eyes that he always had when he argued with Derek. 

Stiles was stronger than Derek had ever given him credit for, he’d survived here, by himself, for over two years and he’d only gotten stronger, he wanted to tell Stiles how incredible he was, how proud he was, but he was worried it would sound idiotic.

“Your dad asked me to tell you that he loves you, that he’s so proud of you.” Derek mumbled and Stiles turned slightly to look at him, “He missed you, a lot, I don’t think any of us could ever comprehend how much he has missed you.” Derek paused, “There’s so much you missed, I’m sure your dad will tell you all about it though, when we get you out, tomorrow night, during the fight.” Jesus, Stiles had never let him get the entire way through a sentence without cutting him off, he didn’t even know what he was saying any more, he was just trying to keep his voice calm and in control, Stiles had to believe him, believe that they’d get him out of here. “Do you have a back-up? In case it doesn’t work? I don’t know if I’ll get another chance to ask you privately and I don’t think I’ll be able to convince your dad to wait a month, not that I’d want to do that, I just mean, if the power going off doesn’t work, do you have another way out of here? Something we can help with?” 

He looked across at Stiles, heard the increase in his heart rate as Stiles shook his head, he was lying, that much was obvious, Derek couldn’t even begin to figure out why Stiles wouldn’t tell him, but then he thought back to the words from earlier, ‘I don’t trust you’ Stiles didn’t trust that Derek wouldn’t mess up his plans, and, wow, that really fucking hurt. Derek tried not to let it show on his face, he guessed he could understand, Stiles had been alone for two years, not knowing who he could trust and who he couldn’t, he couldn’t risk telling Derek any other plans, couldn’t put all his eggs in one basket. 

“Alright, okay, I get it, but, it’s going to be fine, we’re going to cut the power tomorrow once the fight starts and you’re going to get out of here.” Derek muttered, probably trying to reassure himself more than Stiles, Stiles had survived two years here, Derek was the one who couldn’t bear the thought of Stiles having to stay here a second longer. 

“Wait until I get to the swords.” Stiles whispered and Derek was so shocked that Stiles had spoken again that his mouth hung open for a moment before he snapped it shut. 

“Okay, cut the power when you get to the swords, not before?” Derek asked for clarification and Stiles nodded tightly. “Okay, cool, I can do that, we can do that. And, Stiles, if it doesn’t work, we’ll come up with something else, we will get you out of here, no matter what.”

Stiles didn’t look like he believed him and Derek wasn’t sure what else he could say to prove to Stiles that they cared, it was his fault that Stiles was here after all, if he’d just paid more attention, stopped thinking about Jackson that night and looked at the bigger picture, what Gerard could have been planning then maybe, maybe he would have been able to do something, stop him from taking Stiles in the first place, or finding them before Stiles supposedly died. 

“I’ll never be able to make it up to you, for what I did. But I am sorry, I’m so sorry Stiles.” Derek confessed, Stiles didn’t say anything, only glared at him angrily and Derek knew that there was no way Stiles would ever forgive him. 

At some point during the night Derek must have fallen asleep, despite his best efforts, and he woke to a loud knock on the door, he blinked open his eyes, the previous days’ events coming back to him the instant he saw Stiles lying next to him, his eyes boring into Derek’s, he didn’t look like he’d slept at all. 

“Ten minutes before time is up.” Someone shouted from the other side of the room and Derek tensed, he had to remind himself that they had a plan, that Stiles would be free by tonight, that the plan would work and they would get him back. 

“I won’t let you down again Stiles.” Derek said firmly as he sat up, climbing out of the bed and walking around to pick up his clothes, he pulled on his jeans, hating that he was leaving Stiles here, alone, but there was nothing he could do about it right now, he threw his shirt on and looked back at Stiles who was still staring at him, “I’ll stick to the plan, we will get you out of here.” Derek offered, hoping it was reassuring, Stiles just rolled his eyes in reply. When the second knock came a moment later Derek gave Stiles one last look and then moved to the door, stepping out to see the guards smirking at him, he wasn’t going to rise to the bait, instead he nodded at them briefly, following a guard to the exit, stepping out into the early morning sun.


	10. Chapter 10

He walked back to the motel, trying to get his head straight before meeting up with the rest of the pack, he just needed a little time alone to get his thoughts straight, everything had happened so fast, too fast, Stiles was alive and he was in that goddamn place and it was on him, it was his fault. He knew he couldn’t make the pack wait any longer for the information though, they were probably going out of their minds, as it was he was still two hundred feet away from the motel when Noah came running out of his room towards Derek, the others already on his heels. 

“Is he okay?” Noah demanded as soon as he got close enough to speak, inhaling Stiles’ scent that was mixed in with Derek’s. Derek didn’t know how to answer that, Stiles wasn’t okay, was so far from okay that it wasn’t even funny, but he was strong. 

“Let’s go inside.” Derek replied, they couldn’t talk out here, just in case someone heard them or saw them or something. “We should talk privately.” He explained when Noah raised his eyebrows at him. It only took five minutes for the whole pack to cram into the motel room, looking at him attentively, all of them sitting in silence and waiting for him to speak. He didn’t even know where to start.

“You smell like Stiles, but, wrong, like he doesn’t smell like the Stiles I knew anymore.” Scott began and Derek shrugged. 

“His scent when he was sixteen?” Melissa scoffed, “When he hadn’t spent two years in a gladiator ring?” 

“I guess.” Scott admitted, “Is he okay?” 

“He’s,” Derek paused, he couldn’t say Stiles was okay, “He’s alive.” He let out a long breath, “He’s quieter, harder, he told me he doesn’t trust me.” Derek winced as those words echoed in his mind and his pack tensed around him. “There’s a plan.”

“What do we need to do?” Lydia asked. 

“Tonight, the final fight, when Stiles reaches the swords we need to cut the power.” 

“How?” Allison queried. 

“There’s a room, there’s a door, Logan’s box is raised above the rest of the colosseum, the door is under that.”

“I’ve seen it.” Isaac piped up, “There’s a key card machine and a mirror on the front side.” 

“Mirror or one-way glass?” Danny suggested and Isaac shrugged. “It makes sense for it to be one-way glass, looking out onto the arena?” 

“So we’re assuming guards then?” Ethan said.

“Yes, two, inside the room.” Derek explained.

“What happens then?” Braeden asked and Derek was going to have to talk to her, he could smell the jealously that had been wafting off her since the moment Scott had mentioned he smelled like Stiles, he couldn’t deal with that right now, he’d talk to her later, after all this was over. 

“I don’t know. I tried to find out, but, he, erm, he doesn’t trust me, and I asked about if it didn’t work, did he have a back-up plan, he does, but he wouldn’t share it with me, I, just, he doesn’t trust me, I think he thinks that I’ll betray him, so, he only told me the bare minimum, cut the power when he gets to the swords.” Derek rambled, ignoring the flashes of pain across the faces of his pack, before Noah gritted his teeth and nodded tightly. 

“So we do as he asks, we get the power cut.” Noah said determinedly and Derek nodded. 

“You were there for hours; did he say anything else? Talk about anything else?” Erica asked, Derek fought the urge to roll his eyes as Braeden’s jealously flared, the wolves’ noses twitching in irritation at the scent. Derek looked up at Braeden, meeting her gaze, wishing he wasn’t doing this here but knowing it had to be done.

“They had cameras in the room because apparently, he’s tried to escape too many times before, I couldn’t exactly just talk to him. He’d also put up a fight before they got him to the room and they’d drugged him, it took him a couple of hours before he even recognised I was there.” Derek explained. 

“And you killed the time how?” Peter drawled. 

“Nothing like that.” Derek said, more to Braeden than anyone else, “I had to make it look like something was going on, so I stripped to my boxers and got into bed with him, covered us with the sheets, nobody could see what was going on.” 

“You didn’t sleep with him?” Braeden asked and Derek shook his head. 

“No, not a chance. It was just to get the information, that’s all.”

“Why didn’t you leave when you had the information?” Braeden practically accused him and Derek tried his best to keep his temper under control. How could she be making this about them right now? It was about Stiles, about rescuing him. 

“Because the guards outside his room thought he’d just lost his virginity, and he was chained to the goddamn bed and they didn’t exactly seem like the kind of guys that would have just left him alone if they thought they could get away with it. So, no, I wasn’t going to leave him there alone when he couldn’t defend himself. I’ll say this once and then I don’t want to have to discuss it again, Stiles and I did not do anything even remotely sexual, the most we touched was when I drained his pain and when he slammed his knee into my stomach. That’s all there is to this, nothing more, so, you can either believe me or not, but right now the focus needs to be on getting Stiles out of that hell hole. Do I make myself clear?” Derek growled, his wolf closer to the surface than he thought, he was tired and he was terrified and it didn’t make for a good combination. He wasn’t sure he would ever be able to settle properly until they got Stiles back, he couldn’t leave him there, they had to get him out.

They were back at the colosseum for when the first fight started, Derek was doing his best not to show how incredibly nervous he was, they had to pull this off. The first time they saw Stiles was a fight in the early afternoon, he looked to have been healed from some of his previous injuries, Derek thought the caster probably did that so that he could fight. He was matched against one of the vampires they’d seen fight previously, she had been fast and vicious and taken out her opponents within moments, Derek was terrified for Stiles. As soon as the fight began Stiles moved, the vampire was fast but it was like Stiles could predict her every move, he moved faster, more fluid that Derek had ever witnessed before, like his movements had somehow been restricted before but they weren’t now. 

The crowd were going crazy as Stiles dodged her blows time after time, until within five minutes Stiles managed to land his own hit, a solid blow to the face that had the vampire reeling backwards and then suddenly Stiles was dominating the fight, landing one blow after another, never giving her a chance to recover, making sure she stayed down. 

There was a roar of applause as Stiles climbed up off the vampire and moved away, glaring up at the box where Logan was giving him a standing ovation. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, give a large round of applause to The Kid, apparently being up all night has had no impact on his ability to fight!” The announcer said and Derek could swear he could see a faint blush on Stiles’ neck, before he tensed and a moment later fell to his knees, clutching tightly at the collar around his neck as electricity raced through him. The guards dragged him out of the ring a minute later, the crowds still cheering in excitement, Derek tried not to think how messed up it was that the gladiator they’d been cheering a moment earlier had been electrocuted and dragged from the ring and still they cheered. It was so sick that it wasn’t even funny.

They’d been watching the guards that patrolled around the stands, they’d got the plan in place in order to get the key card from one of the guards, all they had to do now was wait for the final fight to start. Isaac would get the key card off the guard, Jackson and Boyd would take care of the guards and Lydia and Danny would turn the power off. Allison, Erica, Ethan and Peter would position themselves near the power room in order to fight any guards that came their way, Chris, Melissa, Aiden, Cora and Braeden would position themselves near the exit to stop any of the guards trying to escape, Derek, Scott, Kira and Noah would wait near the door that Erica and Aiden had gone through before, as soon as a guard came out they would go in and release any of the prisoners that were being held down there. Hopefully they’d be able to find their way to the ring and help Stiles escape, that was their main priority, but, if they found anyone else trapped down there, then, of course they’d help them get free too. 

The announcement came that the final fight was about to start and Derek nodded at Isaac, this had to work. Isaac sauntered down the steps, accidently bumping into an approaching guard and apologising profusely, giving him a small smile and looking completely innocent. Derek couldn’t help the satisfied smile on his face when Isaac grinned up at him from behind the guard’s back, flashing him the key card that was now held securely in his hand. 

“And our final gladiator,” The announcer continued excitedly, “This fighter is new to the arena, joining us for the first time, I give you the caster, the unexperienced, the unchallenged, Daniel.” Derek watched in surprise a man, probably in his late forties, rise into the ring, he wasn’t sure why he was being put in the ring, it was supposed to be the best gladiators, except this Daniel guy had never even been in a fight before from the sounds of things and as a caster he’d be next to useless in the arena. “And, in the ring tonight, for your enjoyment, one heart will stop beating!” There was a stamping roar of applause. 

Derek really didn’t like the way that the gladiators all seemed to look at Stiles and then Daniel, the ones not wearing helmets were smirking widely and Stiles looked tenser than Derek had ever seen him before. He was on the opposite side of the arena to Daniel who was stood next to Marcus who was smirking widely, Derek wasn’t sure what was happening but he was sure it wasn’t going to be good. He knew it was wrong, but he prayed that the gladiators went for Daniel and not Stiles, he knew that was wrong, knew that Stiles could handle himself whereas Daniel most likely couldn’t, but if someone was going to die in the arena, he wanted Stiles to be safe. 

Derek knew that the plan meant waiting until Stiles reached the swords, Stiles had to get to the swords, had to go for them straight away, Derek assumed that was the plan, except when the fight started Stiles ran straight for Daniel, using only his bare hands to fight the other gladiators, landing hard punches that knocked them backwards and out of his way, then continuing on his full sprint across the ring rather than defeating them properly, like his only priority, his only thought, was to get to Daniel first. 

Marcus had already reached Daniel, wrapped a clawed hand around his throat as Daniel tugged at his hands uselessly, looking completely and utterly terrified, the crowd around them going wild, screaming for Marcus to finish him as Stiles continued his mad dash to stop it, Derek knew he wasn’t going to make it in time, it was obvious to all of them, to everyone except for Stiles. Marcus smirked at Stiles when there was only one gladiator in between them, making eye contact and tearing Daniels’ throat out before dropping his lifeless body to the floor. There was a sudden silence in the crowd, waiting expectantly for something and then Stiles dropped to the ground, screaming in agony, his back arcing off the ground as he screamed, the entire pack gathered around the edge of the ring, looking at each other in confusion and fear, what the hell was happening?

Marcus stood over Stiles, a victorious grin on his face, Derek didn’t know what was going on but Stiles needed to get up, he needed to get up right now or it was all over. 

“Get up!” He screamed, Noah echoing him on one side, Scott on the other. 

Marcus wrapped a hand around Stiles’ throat once the apparent almost seizure stopped and pulled him to his feet, Stiles struggling to catch his breath, Derek didn’t know what to do, Stiles couldn’t die now, he couldn’t lose him now when they’d only just found him again. 

“Do something!” Noah begged him desperately, his eyes wide and pleading and Derek didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to help. In turned out that Stiles didn’t need his help, didn’t need anyone’s help, he wrapped his legs around Marcus’ waist and slammed his arms down on to Marcus’ outstretched arm, breaking the grip around his neck, nearly losing his balance for a moment but then twisting violently, slamming a hand into Marcus’ nose and Derek watched in fascination as blood spurted from his broken nose. 

Stiles got back to his feet and started to move towards the swords and Derek almost pumped his fist in the air in triumph. 

“Come on Stiles.” He muttered under his breath, glancing across the arena at his pack who were waiting by the door to the guard room, thankfully they managed not to look too suspicious, although he guessed that the excitement in the arena kept most people’s attention.

The second Stiles reached the swords Jackson swiped the key card and went into the room, Boyd right behind him, the guards turning away from their controls to look at them in surprise. They took care of them easily, Jackson was a bit concerned that these supposedly well-trained professionals had been taken out by two reasonably trained werewolves in a matter of moments without being able to raise the alarm, he guessed it was in their best interests but still, surely, they should have put up more of a fight? He dismissed the thought, instead looking at the controls that Lydia and Danny were already studying. There were hundreds of dials, a small name printed above each one and Lydia was looking at them in confusion.

“Come on, we haven’t got much time.” Jackson hissed.

“What are they?” Boyd asked. 

“I think they control the collars around each gladiator’s neck.” Lydia whispered, turning the dials down to zero as she scanned through trying to find Stiles’.

“There’s hundreds, there’s got to be a quicker way.” Danny said, diving down under the desk and shouting in triumph a moment later, there was a loud snap and Danny reappeared from under the desk, rushing back outside to see what was happening in the ring. Most of the gladiators were touching the collars around their necks in surprise, Stiles however wasn’t wasting any time, he’d pulled his helmet off and thrown it on the floor, he had a small knife in his hand and was twisting it into the collar, breaking the circuitry. 

“Stop him!” Logan shouted from above them, pointing an accusing finger at Stiles as guards poured into the ring and began firing tasers at the gladiators who were still standing, Stiles had only seconds before they’d reach him, “Someone stop him!” Stiles shoved the knife between the collar and his skin, not caring when it cut into him slightly, there was another twist and pull and the collar came away. “No!” Logan shouted out in despair and everyone in the vicinity froze, some in anticipation, others in fear, Derek couldn’t help but stare, trying to figure out what the hell Stiles’ plan was now. 

Stiles rolled his shoulders, as if a weight had been lifted from them, he stretched as if he was unfolding a giant pair of invisible wings, Derek was hit with the scent of power, pure, brilliant power, rolling off Stiles in waves, it was intoxicating, his fangs and claws coming out without his permission at the thought of getting to taste that magic. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts and looked away from Stiles, there were easily twenty or thirty people who had that same look on their faces, that they would do anything to lose themselves in the scent of magic and power that surrounded Stiles, however the rest of the crowd were cowering, looking terrified, knowing that the power Stiles wielded could kill them if he felt like it. 

“Kill him!” Logan roared from his box and it broke the spell that everyone was under, Stiles burst into action grabbing two swords from the wall and Derek saw him stash at least a few more knives in his shorts. The sand in the bottom of the ring had started to swirl around as if caught in a whirlwind and Derek managed to see Stiles striding towards the guards before the sand caused him to lose sight of him.

“Derek!” Noah was shouting, pulling on his arm, “Come on! We’ve got to get to him!” Noah was already running towards the door that led downstairs and Derek ran after him, it felt like all hell was breaking loose, guards were actually flying out of the ring and landing in the stands around them, the spectators were racing to the exit, terrified they were going to be next and Derek took one last look at his pack that were gathered across the arena, praying they’d all be safe before he ran through the door and went to find Stiles. 

Stiles wasn’t sure what was going to happen when the collar came off, all he knew for sure was that he had some kind of power, but he wasn’t going to rely on that, as soon as the collar came off and they lost the ability to incapacitate him he was going to fight his way out of here. Whatever he’d expected it wasn’t this. It felt like someone had set a fire under his skin, too hot, too powerful, it felt like he was going to explode, he’d heard Logan calling for them to kill him and he’d reached for the swords instinctually, he was fairly confident that he had been the one to start the whirlwind, to make the sand spin and hit the guards so hard that they bled, he wasn’t sure how he’d done it, but, if the fact that the sand didn’t touch him or obscure his vision was any indication, then it was probably him. 

He saw the other gladiators, apart from Marcus, all running for the exit and let them go, they weren’t his problem, the guards were, they were still coming for him, determined to get to him, he lashed out, swinging violently at any guard who got close enough, startling slightly when some unseen force seemed to throw them upwards and out of the ring, the burning under his skin seemed to lessen slightly though so he counted it as a win. 

He felt powerful, unstoppable, invincible, like he could do anything, it was a little mind blowing. He ploughed through the guards like they were nothing, not looking back to see if he’d killed them or not, after all, he’d already murdered one hundred and eighty-two people, what was a few more, right? Marcus blocked his path, glaring at him and baring his teeth, snarling at Stiles with a wide smirk on his lips.

“Ready for your death boy?” Marcus growled, Stiles shifted his stance slightly, tightening the grip on the short swords in his hands, preparing for the fight, knowing that Marcus wouldn’t back down, Marcus let out a guttural growl and charged straight at Stiles, Stiles rolled his eyes, the guy was so god damn predictable. 

He spun to the left, dodging Marcus easily and slammed the swords into his back with enough force that they stuck a good four inches out of the front of his chest, Marcus looked at him in horror, blood spilling from his lips as Stiles pulled out the swords and continued on his way, never looking back, Marcus might die, he might heal, either way it would take a while and it would be painful, but Stiles couldn’t find it in himself to care about that, not after what Marcus had done to him over the past few years.

Allison was certain she’d never felt rage like the one she felt right now, Logan had finally descended from his box, his guards at his heels, he must have figured out that the power to the collars had been cut and had fully intended to turn it back on, he hadn’t accounted for the pack that stood between him and his destination, he’d ordered his guards to attack and then watched in amusement as a full-on battle broke out. 

The entire pack came together, fighting harder than they had ever fought before, they had to beat Logan and his guards, they had to get Stiles out of here. Without being able to bring in weapons Allison, Chris and Melissa couldn’t fight as well as the non-humans in the pack, they were strong and fast, but that couldn’t compare with werewolf speed. Instead Allison assisted them wherever she could, doing her best to protect Melissa without her usual bow or knives, Lydia on the other side of her, screaming and blasting two guards backwards at once, that seemed to push the fight in their favour, the guards succumbing to the pack eventually. 

Allison stalked towards Logan, every atom in her body vibrating with the intense hatred she felt for this man, he’d kept Stiles here, captive, beaten him, tried to break him, she would make him pay for that. 

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” Logan said holding what looked like a detonator in his hand, his thumb hovering over the button.

“That’s such a cliché right now.” Cora growled and Logan smirked.

“It’ll be even more of a cliché when I say that if I press this button this whole place collapses. Now, the very important question is, do you want to die? You can leave now and I won’t come looking for you, I won’t hunt you down and gut you all one by one. Or, you can stay, fight whatever it is you’re fighting for, and die.” 

“We’re not leaving without Stiles.” Erica snarled, taking a step towards Logan.

“Stiles?” Logan asked in confusion. 

“The Kid.” Peter clarified, “The Kid that you have kept here against his will for over two years, he’s pack, he’s ours. We aren’t leaving here without him.” The surprise on Logan’s face seemed genuine, as if he really didn’t know that Stiles was The Kid’s real name. 

“Well, shame about that, but, the thing is, he’s not getting out of here alive, I’ve already sent someone to deal with him, he’s going to end up back in the ring or dead, that’s the only options he’s got. If he’s lucky it’ll be the ring.” Logan grinned viciously and everyone tensed. 

“Peter, Jackson, Boyd, go get the others, find out what’s taking so long.” Lydia snapped, Jackson looked at her in worry but she nodded firmly and Jackson snatched a key card from an unconscious guard before rushing off towards the door that Derek and the others had gone through earlier. 

“You’re brave.” Logan smirked. 

“And you’re evil.” Lydia retorted angrily. 

“You’re right on that one, I am, I enjoy it, I enjoy hurting people, I get a lot of enjoyment from it, like your friend Stiles,” He said the name like it was a bad taste on his tongue, “I get a lot of enjoyment from hurting him, trying to get him to scream just for me, he’s tough to break though, shame that he’ll be dead before I get the chance to do it properly.” 

“You’ll be dead first.” Aiden snarled. 

“Possibly, but then, so will you.” Logan laughed, time seemed to slow down as they watched in horror as he pushed the button, there was nothing they could do, they could see what he was about to do and there was no way to stop him. The ground shook beneath their feet and Allison reached out to grasp Isaac’s arm to steady herself, the entire pack had gone pale as chunks of the stands seemed to crumble into the earth.

“Go!” Chris shouted, shoving them all towards the exit as the ground next to them shifted and Logan slipped, his leg getting trapped in between two pieces of large stone and screaming in agony, Chris left him there, it would probably kill him and, if it didn’t, the arena falling around him would.

“We have to get to the others!” Erica shouted but Ethan grabbed her around the chest and hauled her towards the exit.

“There’s no time. Come on!” 

“No!” Erica screamed, kicking out uselessly, “Boyd!” She screamed, “Boyd!” Ethan dragged her towards the exit, the others trailing after them, all shooting longing glances at the closed door, Melissa’s eyes filling up with tears when there was still no sign of them.

Derek had led the way down the stairs, they had to find Stiles and then get the hell out of here, this had to be the worst possible plan, surely Stiles could have come up with something better than trying to fight his way out of here, even with the fact he apparently had magic, because when the hell did Stiles become magical? He was going to find out when they all got out of here in one piece. 

Derek heard shouting up ahead and he rushed forward through one door and coming out into another room, coming to a standstill at the sight in front of him. There was a large cage that filled the industrial warehouse sized room, a gap of about six feet between the walls of the room and the bars of the cage, he could see passageways that led in between the cage. The gladiators seemed to be able to move between the sleeping quarters, (if you could call it that, there was nothing that even remotely resembled a bed) and a large area that looked more like a training area. The passage ways suggested that the guards would be able to enter the cages at random places to pull out whoever was due to fight without having to take on every single gladiator in there, although the hum of electricity that ran through the bars made Derek confident that nobody ever fought the guards. 

“Here!” Scott said, twisting a number of dials on the wall, Derek didn’t know what he was hoping that would do, but he was almost certain Scott hadn’t expected metal grates to drop down into the cages, separating the gladiators in the training area with those still in the sleeping section. 

“What the hell is going on!?” One of them shouted and Noah frowned.

“We’re getting you all out of here, now, any of you know how to get the gates open?” He shouted and there was instant uproar, all the gladiators rushing into the training section and almost rioting in their attempt to escape now that they knew it was an option. 

Derek could hear another fight a few hundred feet down the next passageway, listened to the sounds of metal hitting flesh, the shouts of guards as they began to run back towards the cages, obviously hoping for a way out. 

“Stiles is through there!” Derek shouted. “I’m going to grab him; you guys find out how to get them out of here!” He took off running, slamming open the door and roaring at the guard who had a gun pointed at Stiles’ head. It only took a matter of seconds to take care of the rest of them, Stiles had almost dealt with them all before Derek even got there. Stiles had his back to him, panting heavily as he looked at the guard he’d just killed, Derek caught the scent, recognised it as the scent he’d followed the night they’d found Stiles’ (or not Stiles’ as the case were) body. He knew this guard was one of the men responsible for Stiles being here in the first place. “Stiles!” Derek said, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. 

Stiles spun around so quickly that it took Derek a moment to register the sharp point of the sword digging into his throat, his breath caught, certain that if he breathed it would be the last thing he did, as it was he could already feel blood trickling down his neck. Stiles glared at him, eyes full of distrust and hate and Derek wasn’t sure what he could do or say to stop Stiles from decapitating him right now, instead he stayed still, awaiting his fate. 

It took a guard charging down the hallway with a taser in his hand behind Derek for Stiles to finally move, pulling the sword from Derek’s throat and grabbing a knife from the back of his shorts, throwing it straight at the guard, going through his arm and pinning him to the wall behind him. 

“We’ve got to move.” Derek whispered, turning his back on Stiles, hoping it was the right move, and heading back to where he’d left the others.

“Do any of you know the code?” Kira asked desperately, the gladiators all looking at her in exasperation.

“If we did, do you think any of us would be here?” One of them retorted sarcastically. 

“Alright, maybe I could shock it open?” Kira suggested and Scott shrugged, it was the best idea they had.

Noah and Scott backed up and Kira grabbed hold of the door, short-circuiting the keypad and swinging the door open a moment later, the gladiators poured out of the cage, running straight for the exit, only Noah pulling Kira out of the way stopped her from being trampled by the stampede. 

“Well, that worked.” Scott said dryly, Kira turning to smile at him fondly. The door behind them swung open and Derek ran through, Stiles following a few steps behind and Noah let out an incredible sigh of relief, already moving towards them. 

“Stiles.” Noah said, striding forwards and cupping Stiles’ face in his hands and staring into his eyes, “God, you’re here, you’re right here, you’re alive.” Noah whispered in awe and Stiles nodded reassuringly. 

“Aww, that’s so sweet.” A woman said from the doorway behind them, blocking their exit, Stiles tensed, moving so that he was between the mystery woman and Noah, Noah rolled his eyes because didn’t Stiles realise he was a werewolf now, that he was more than capable of protecting himself? “I hate to break up this little party, but Logan sent me to capture The Kid, he’s not leaving here, not alive at least.” The wolves glared at her and Kira narrowed her eyes angrily, sparks flashing at her fingertips, “So, you have two choices Kid, fight me and die, or come with me willingly.” 

“Not a chance.” Noah snarled. “He stays with us.” 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The woman smiled before waving her hands and all of them were thrown backwards, hitting the floor hard, all of the air being pushed from their lungs. 

“You’re the caster?” Derek managed to gasp out when he got back to his feet. “You’re the one that put the spells around the colosseum?” 

“You can call me Lucy sweetheart.” She grinned, “And yes, you’re right, I’m the caster.” She gloated, waving her hands again and slamming them back into the wall. Derek glanced to either side of him, could see the four of them struggling to try and break away from her magic, he saw Jackson, Peter and Boyd appear in the doorway behind Lucy, saw them take in the scene in front of them and then Peter was striding forwards, his claws out and ready to tear through her, a look of fierce determination on his face. 

Suddenly there was an explosion from above them and ground shook, chunks of the colosseum falling from above them and smashing through the cage bars before they hit the floor. Lucy stumbled and the spell collapsed, Derek pushed away from the wall, dragging Kira with him and narrowly avoiding a chunk of stone that had fallen from above them. Noah gripped onto Stiles’ arm tightly, dragging him away from the wall, pulling him towards the exit. 

Lucy was still blocking their path though and Derek stared in amazement as she rose a few inches off the shaking ground before blasting all of them, including Peter, Boyd and Jackson backwards. 

“Naughty wolves, trying to sneak up on me isn’t smart.” Lucy laughed and the wolves all snarled. Peter charged straight at her, swiping at her with her claws, stumbling slightly as the ground shifted and Lucy laughed again, easily moving out of his reach and throwing a hand out that blasted him backwards. They were all dodging chunks of falling stone and trying to stay on their feet more than anything, all the while Lucy laughed and taunted and danced around, her feet never touching the floor. She’d turned her back on him, grinning at Jackson as she knocked him backwards before turning her attention to Boyd, Derek didn’t think, wasn’t sure if he’d even make it there, but he pressed his heels into the ground and then pushed off, launching himself through the air and at Lucy’s back. 

She turned, as if sensing his movement, but it was too little too late. 

“No!” Stiles screamed, but Derek couldn’t stop himself and he didn’t want to, this woman was hurting his pack, he wasn’t going to spare her if he had the chance to kill her, it didn’t matter that Stiles didn’t want him to, for whatever reason that was, his pack was in danger, he had to eliminate the threat. His claws tore through her throat without hesitation and landed on the floor next to her body, her eyes glazing over. The ground was still shaking, the walls on the verge of collapse and then suddenly Stiles’ knees gave out and he started screaming, the only reason he wasn’t already on the ground was because Noah was keeping him upright. 

“What’s happening?” Scott shouted in panic, Derek rushed towards them, Noah gagging at the scent of burning flesh and Derek staring in horror at the spiral that was being burned into Stiles’ skin below the others as he screamed and writhed in agony, the others staring on in confusion and fear. 

“We need to get out of here.” Peter commanded as another large pile of stone fell and narrowly missed them. Noah scooped Stiles, who was still shouting in pain, into his arms and heading for the exit, the others moving as one towards the exit, Derek continually glancing at Stiles to see what was happening with him, shocked when he realised that there were now ten spirals instead of the eight that had been there the night previously, the tenth spiral now fading to a dark purple instead of the burning black it had been moments earlier, that was something he’d have to ask about later, when they got out of here. 

“Come on!” Jackson shouted, waving them through the hallway and towards the stairs, Derek knew they weren’t going to make it, that the place was coming down around them, that it wouldn’t stay standing long enough for them to make it out of there, it didn’t stop them trying though. Stiles recovered from whatever had just happened and pushed himself out of his father’s arms, breaking into a sprint for the stairs while Derek pushed Kira and Scott forward, needing to put his pack ahead of his own safety. Stiles thrust his hands upwards when a large chunk of stone nearly hit Noah, the stone stopped in mid-air, hovering there above them, when Noah had passed safely under the rock Kira followed after him and then it was just Scott and Derek left, Derek met Stiles’ eyes for a moment, wondering if he’d just stop whatever magic he was using to keep the rock floating and just leave him down here to die, god knows he deserved it. Instead, Stiles glared at him, clearly telling him to hurry the fuck up without saying a word and then both of them were through, Scott went to clap a hand on Stiles’ shoulder in thanks but Stiles moved out of the way, obviously not wanting Scott anywhere near him. They were up the stairs, the door in sight, Jackson at the front and shoving against it with all his strength. 

“It’s jammed!” He called back, Peter and Boyd were jointly ramming into the door but it refused to move, Derek didn’t know what to do, they’d got this far, they had to get out, he had to save them, how? How could he possibly get a door open that three other wolves couldn’t? He was stronger as an Alpha, but he sure as hell wasn’t that strong. 

Stiles grabbed hold of Kira’s hand and dragged her up the stairs, she let out a small squeak of surprise but didn’t say anything, and, when Stiles glared at Jackson, Boyd and Peter, they all moved out of the way. Stiles turned to look at Kira and she looked completely baffled, he rolled his eyes, pressing her hand against the door and pressing his own over it. 

Derek didn’t know what was going on, he’d never been so confused in his life, did Stiles know what he was doing? What was he doing? Derek needed him to talk, to explain, to act like the Stiles he knew. Kira tensed suddenly, her whole body going rigid, Stiles’ body followed a moment later and then the whole door lit up with electricity and started to shake violently. The walls around them shuddered and a piece of falling debris smashed into Boyd’s shoulder, they had only moments left before the whole roof would collapse in on them, they had to get out of here. There was a loud bang from the top of the stairs along with a cloud of smoke and then Derek saw the daylight shining through and they all rushed upwards. As he stepped out into the colosseum he couldn’t help but glance at the splinters of metal that were scattered across the floor, all that was left of the door, Kira was staring at her hands seemingly in complete and utter surprise, until Scott grabbed hold of her hand and started to drag her to the exit. 

Just because they were outside now didn’t mean they were safe, Noah stumbled when the floor gave way beneath his feet and Stiles yanked his arm forward, pulling him onwards, Derek kept looking at everyone around him, at the exit only a hundred feet in front of him, at the bodies of guards and a few unlucky spectators that lay unmoving in the stands, he couldn’t help them even if he wanted to, the whole thing was falling down around them, they had to move. 

He pushed Peter onwards when the ground under Peter’s foot gave way, he managed to push him across the gap but it sent him sprawling to the floor, Stiles was running past and grabbed his arm to help him up, the instant Derek was back on his feet Stiles let go, continuing on their mad dash out of there. 

He could see the exit up ahead, could see the rest of his pack waiting nervously a few hundred feet ahead of that, Cora saw him and began rushing forward, Aiden was holding her back to keep her out of danger, he couldn’t lose them, not now, not when they were finally a proper pack, not when Stiles was alive. The ground in front of them opened, splitting the corridor apart, a jump easily ten-foot-long, the distance separating them from the rest of the pack, from safety. Jackson and Boyd were at the front of their group, they didn’t break stride, just ran and then pushed off, rolling to the ground when they hit the other side. Kira stumbled to a stop, looking at the gap and then Scott, her eyes wide with fear. 

“I can manage it.” Scott said, squeezing her hand tightly before throwing her on his back and looking at Derek, Noah, Peter and Stiles. Stiles looked at Kira, waiting on Scott’s back to make the jump, Derek was about to offer Stiles a lift then Stiles looked again at the fissure separating them from safety before he scoffed at Derek’s open mouth, clutched both swords in one hand and ran straight at it before anyone could protest. 

Stiles pushed off from the ground about a foot away from the edge, he leaped forward and a little to the side, pushing off from the wall about half way across before doing a back flip and landing easily on his feet on the other side, turning back to look at Derek with a slight smirk on his face, as if daring Derek to try and come up with anything nearly as graceful, Derek didn’t even dare to think about how the Stiles he knew wouldn’t have ever been able to do something like that without tripping over his own feet. The others shrugged and ran straight at the hole, jumping when they reached the edge and hoping it was enough to get them across, Derek wrapping his hand in Scott’s collar and using his Alpha strength to push Scott and Kira in front of him, making sure that they both made it. 

They all hit the ground hard, Noah coughing slightly at the impact and Stiles and Melissa both rushing to his side to make sure he was okay before Noah climbed back to his feet and grinned widely, turning to look at first the colosseum that had completely collapsed in on itself and then at Stiles who looked more than a little surprised at this turn of events. 

“Stiles.” Noah sobbed in relief, pulling Stiles into a tight hug and holding onto him for all he was worth. “I’ve missed you, god, I’ve missed you so much.” The rest of the pack rushed towards them, Cora and Braeden moving to Derek to check he was alright before they turned their attention to Stiles. The tension that ran through his body was obvious to all of them, the way that he’d extracted himself from his father and held his swords easily in his hands, his stance defensive, ready for an attack, made it even more obvious that Stiles didn’t trust them. 

“Stiles, we’ve met some new people since you, erm, since you, you left.” Melissa said nervously, “This is Cora, Derek’s sister, and Braeden, his girlfriend, you obviously already met Aiden, this is his brother Ethan, and you’ve met Kira, Scott’s girlfriend.” None of them missed the way that Stiles’ eyes shifted across to Allison in surprise, Allison smiled at him in reassurance, squeezing Isaac’s hand in hers and Stiles’ eyebrows raised even further at that. 

“We should get out of here.” Peter said, “Before anyone comes looking at this mess.” He could see Stiles watching him and smiled slightly, “Not dead anymore, evidently, and slightly less insane than I was back then.” He grinned and Stiles smirked slyly as if he’d thought of a clever retort, but then he didn’t say anything, just nodded and moved towards the vehicles. 

“Kiddo…” Noah began and Stiles tensed, “Shit, sorry, I meant, Stiles, maybe you should leave the swords here? Don’t want to get pulled over with swords in the car.” He tried to joke, it fell flat, he could see the fear in Stiles’ eyes at the thought of leaving his only weapons behind. 

“It’s only two miles to the motel.” Jackson suggested, “I think it’ll be okay until then.” Stiles looked at him and nodded. “Also not dead.” He added and Stiles’ lips twitched upwards in an attempt at a laugh. 

“Here.” Danny said, rooting around in the back of one of the cars and handing Stiles a slightly rumpled t-shirt, Stiles stared at it in confusion and then down at his bare chest to the scars that littered it, Derek could smell the confusion and hurt rolling off Stiles, as could the rest of the wolves. “Not that you need to cover up or anything, just, you know, if you wanted actual clothes or whatever, instead of shorts, I mean, I don’t mind, I think you look hot.” Danny rambled and both Ethan and Derek growled, “Okay, not like, going to leave my super-duper gorgeous werewolf boyfriend hot, but, still hot, like, if I was single I’d be all over you, kind of hot.” 

“Danny,” Lydia sighed wearily, “I think you can shut up any time now.”

“Sorry.” Danny mumbled, “Kind of used to Stiles being able to fill any silence, maybe you’d like to join in here any time?” He gestured to Stiles who just stared at him in reply, a small smirk on his lips as he shook his head. 

“Let’s go back to the motel, I’m sure Stiles needs a shower and rest.” Melissa said calmly, “We’ll need to get a passport sorted as well, to get him over the border so we can go home.” She glanced at Derek.

“I can sort it.” Braeden said, “I’ll need a couple of days.” Stiles glared at her like she’d personally offended him and Braeden ducked her head slightly in embarrassment.

“Stiles, Braeden is a friend, she’s helped us with a lot over the past year.” Erica said and Stiles nodded, but Derek could still see that Stiles didn’t trust her, it would probably take time, time for Stiles to recover, to learn to trust all of them again. 

“Okay, so, motel?” Scott said awkwardly and they made their way to the cars, Stiles choosing to sit in with Ethan, Danny, Kira and Cora. Derek was not going to think about how much it hurt, that Stiles would rather get in a car with strangers than his own pack. When they got to the motel Noah went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, Stiles standing uncomfortably in the small living area, the whole pack were staring at him, Derek knew he should tell them all to give him some space, but he knew they all felt the same as him, that if they looked away Stiles would be gone, like they never would have found him at all. 

“The shower’s running, I’m sure you’ll want one, we’ll stay here, so it’s safe, you know, you don’t need to worry.” Noah said, still indicating the swords that Stiles held in his hands, Stiles looked down at them and his grip tightened, he strode over towards the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

As soon as the door was shut Stiles let out a long sigh, being around them, all of them, it was hard, he’d missed his dad, even missed Erica and Boyd, but, Derek and Scott and Allison by default, he hated what they’d done to him and even though he wanted to hate them, his dad was pack now, Derek was his dad’s Alpha, it wasn’t like he could walk away from that, especially not with his dad and Melissa being involved, he wouldn’t be able to get his dad to leave without her and Melissa wouldn’t leave without Scott, which meant he was stuck here, with them. 

He ran his fingers through the water, he hadn’t seen a shower in so long, the thought of being able to have one making his fingers tremble in anticipation. He didn’t even bother stripping off, or even dropping his shorts or removing his arm guards, just stepped into the water and let it wash over him. He lost track of how long he stood there, feeling the water washing away the layer of dirt that always clung to him, sliding his swords to the floor where he could still reach them easily if necessary, running his hands through his hair, a low moan coming out without his consent at the feeling. Whenever they’d been able to get clean in the rings it was through a cold bath, usually where he was chained to the floor and the guards had fun molesting him while they were supposed to be cleaning him. Marcus had never cared about that, so long as they didn’t do anything other than grope him it was all okay by him, hence just one of the reasons why Stiles had no issues leaving him to probably die. 

He stood there until the water began to run cold, probably hours later, he still didn’t want to move, even when he began to shiver from the cold water, it was amazing, he’d forgotten how good this felt, how fantastic running water felt.


	11. Chapter 11

“Stiles?” He heard his dad knock quietly on the door but Stiles couldn’t answer, wasn’t sure his voice would work even if he wanted it to, his throat was clogged with unshed emotion and he wanted to believe that this was it, that he was finally out of there, finally safe, but he couldn’t, it wasn’t possible, this had to be some kind of dream. “Son, you okay?” Noah’s voice drifted through the door again and Stiles shut off the water, he didn’t want his dad to worry any more than necessary. 

Stiles opened the door, ignoring the fact that his shorts were dripping onto the floor, and looked at his father, Noah’s face relaxing in relief and then smiling gently in confusion. 

“Stiles, you’re all wet, you know, they have this invention now called towels? You use them to dry yourself so you don’t drip all over the floor?” Noah said sarcastically and Stiles grinned, dropping his swords and pulling Noah into a tight hug, burying his head in his father’s shoulder, Noah wrapped his arms around Stiles, holding him equally as tight. “It’s alright Stiles, you’re safe, we’ve got you.” Noah muttered into his ear. When they finally pulled apart, if could have been minutes or hours later, Melissa moved towards him with open arms. 

“I’m so glad you’re here Stiles.” She whispered hugging him gently, as if afraid he might break. Stiles wasn’t completely sure that he wasn’t going to break, the sincerity with which Melissa hugged him, it made his chest ache. 

“I got you a towel.” Lydia said a moment later and Stiles raised an eyebrow at her in question before taking the towel from her and wrapping it around his shoulders before moving back to pick his swords up, needing the familiar comfort of their weight in his hands, needing to feel the strength that they gave him. 

“How long before we can go home?” Isaac asked, “To get a passport for him?” He asked Braeden. 

“A day or two I guess?” She replied. Stiles was suspicious of her intentions, he knew she couldn’t be trusted, yet the pack seemed to trust her, so he couldn’t just kill her. They’d think he’d gone insane. Instead he decided to keep an eye on her, the moment she did something even slightly suspicious he’d tear her apart. Stiles moved to the nearby table where there was a map spread out across it, he traced the lines with his fingertips, studying the names of the towns and cities surrounding them, his gaze hovering on three particular towns, he wasn’t going home, not yet, he had business to take care of here first. 

“I should check out your injuries.” Melissa suggested and Stiles tensed. 

“I’m fine.” He growled out a moment later, shocking the room into silence. 

“Are you sure? I mean, I’ve got a first aid box in the car?” Melissa replied but Stiles just nodded firmly. He was sure. Besides, he didn’t even hurt that much anymore, since Derek had drained his pain, a whole lot of it apparently, he felt a lot better, able to focus more clearly on his movements rather than the constant pain he’d been in, he’d fought better today than he had done in months.

“Okay, well, until we get the passport sorted,” Derek began, looking uncertainly at Stiles, “Maybe it would be a good idea if we all got some sleep?” Everyone slowly agreed with Derek, shooting glances out of the corner of their eyes at Stiles, as if waiting for him to react in some way. He couldn’t understand this; how could they sleep when there were people out there still being made to fight for their lives? Did they not know about the other rings? Or did they know and just not care? He frowned, struggling to control his emotions as he thought about the other rings he’d spent time in over the past few years, how, really, in comparison the main ring had been like a vacation. 

He knew he had to take care of the other rings, that he wouldn’t be able to rest until he shut them down too, just because the pack didn’t want to do anything about it, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to do something about it himself, he’d just have to wait until they left him alone. 

Of course, that meant that he’d actually have to be alone at some point, the pack seemed to be unwilling to let him out of their sights, even when everyone was going to bed, even though he knew they all had their own rooms, they all stayed in the one room, glancing at Stiles on a regular basis as if expecting him to disappear. Eventually he’d had enough of it, he sighed heavily, moved to the corner of the room where he’d be protected from two sides and sat down on the floor, ignoring the damp shorts that still clung to him more than he was used to, the cold metal of his arm guards brushing against his skin and relaxing him as much as possible, resting his swords on the floor next to him, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his chin on them.

“What are you doing?” Aiden asked and Stiles stared at him like he was an idiot. “I meant, we’ve got spare blankets and plenty of space over here?” Stiles rolled his eyes before turning his head slightly so he didn’t have to look at the pack and closed his eyes. He could almost feel the looks of pity burning into the back of his head, he didn’t need their pity. 

It took hours before all of their breathing evened out, they breathed too loudly, made their positions too obvious, Stiles waited a little bit longer to make sure they were really asleep before picking up his swords and getting to his feet. He moved silently through the room, grabbing the map from the table, pressing his lips firmly together when he saw Derek and Braeden sleeping near the door, blocking his exit. He turned around, moving to the window and sliding it open and climbing out without making a sound. 

Derek stirred when he felt a slight breeze on his face, no more than the ghost of a breath across his cheek, but, still, it was enough to disturb his uneasy sleep. He’d struggled to fall asleep in the first place, not with Stiles curled up in the corner away from all of them, seeing him like that had broken something inside Derek, but he couldn’t break, he had to be strong, he had to hold it together for his pack. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes sleepily and glancing automatically to the corner, his heart racing when he saw that it was empty and the window nearby was open. 

“Stiles!” He growled, jumping to his feet, ignoring the fact that he almost threw Braeden off him in his scramble to get to his feet, his pack waking up groggily as Derek hurled himself through the window and after Stiles. 

“What’s going on?” Scott mumbled, still half asleep. 

“Stiles is gone. Get up.” Noah snarled, throwing some trousers on and heading off after Derek, the rest of them hurrying after him. 

Derek followed his scent around to the back of the motel where the cars were parked, he thanked god for supernatural hearing when he locked onto the sound of Stiles’ heartbeat coming from up ahead of him, no more than a few hundred meters, he ran a little faster. 

“Stiles!” Derek called out when he finally saw him, taking in the scene in front of him, the door to a car that clearly didn’t belong to any of the pack was wide open and Stiles was about to get into the front seat. “What the hell are you doing!?” He yelled angrily, storming forwards, and okay, maybe his flashed his eyes for a second, but Stiles was running away from them, there was the tip of a sword pressed into his throat again, the second time in a day, Stiles was fast, really fucking fast. 

“Stiles! Derek!” Noah caught up with them, taking in the sword to Derek’s neck, the open car door, the look of pure disgust on Stiles’ features as he looked at Derek, he’d never seen his sons face contorted with those emotions before, he barely recognised him, “Stiles? What are you doing?” 

“You’re leaving?” Erica’s voice came from behind Noah, looking at the map on the front seat, looking at Stiles sadly, “You can’t leave. We only just got you back.” She said, sounding on the verge of tears. 

“You’re not going anywhere.” Noah growled, his eyes flashing bright blues for a moment before returning to their normal blue, “I am not losing you again. You don’t get to leave my sight, not now. You don’t get to leave me again.”

“I’ll meet you back in Beacon Hills.” Stiles replied quietly, still not breaking eye contact with Derek or lowering the sword from his throat. 

“What!?” Noah said in confusion, “You’re not making any sense!? Meet us back in Beacon Hills!? You’re coming with us; you can’t just wander off and somehow find your way back there without any kind of plan or anything.”

“You’re going to destroy the other rings.” Braeden said, it wasn’t any kind of question, she had figured out his plan, seen the way his fingers had hesitated only momentarily on the map earlier, it was the kind of thing The Kid would do, take his vengeance, sure and swift and without mercy. Stiles met her eyes for a moment and then nodded firmly. 

“Well, if we’re going to go to war then you at least need some proper clothes.” Lydia said casually from where she was leaning against the hood of the car. 

“You’re not…” Stiles began and Lydia glared at him.

“If you dare say we aren’t coming with you then I will gut you Stilinski, your dad is right, you are not leaving our sight, so get used to it, besides, it’s the right thing to do.” Jackson snarled and Stiles looked at him in surprise before finally lowering his sword and sighing. He’d being about to say that they weren’t bothered about the other rings, that so long as they rescued Stiles they were more than happy to go back to their quiet, perfect little life back home, but, then Jackson had surprised him and he wasn’t exactly sure how to take that. 

He turned to get into the car and Allison opened her mouth to say something but looking at Derek uncertainly, Stiles waited for her to speak. 

“We can’t go right now, we need to repack, get you some proper clothes, get weapons, we can’t go in empty handed again.” She explained a moment later.

“I have a guy.” Chris added, “I’ll arrange a meeting with him for the morning, we can get weapons then.” 

“Okay, back to the rooms, we’ll come up with a plan then, we’ll need to know everything you know about the other rings.” Derek said, meeting Stiles’ gaze. Stiles snatched the map from the front seat and moved back towards the room, seemingly not bothered by the fact that he was wandering around in bare feet. 

The years had taken all the softness out of Stiles, made him harder and tougher, surrounding himself with disdain and sharp edges, Derek figured he’d had to be like that, to survive for as long as he had, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what Stiles had been through. 

“The closest to here would be the one in San Bernardo? Right?” Braeden said pointing at the map and Stiles nodded as she trailed her fingers along the map, “If we left after Chris’ meeting then we’d be there before dark.”

“Won’t it all be finished for the day by then?” Cora asked. 

“No.” Braeden said shaking her head, “The fights don’t start until dark there, we can go in, figure out a way to break everyone out, then tear it down.” She shrugged. 

“How much do you know about these rings?” Lydia asked suspiciously and Braeden shrugged again, glancing to Stiles before turning back to Lydia. 

“Not a lot, I know where they are, I know how they work, each one has a gimmick of some kind, Logan ran the main one, it’s destroyed, the other three are significantly smaller, but it doesn’t mean they’re any less brutal, the one in Guadalupe is renowned as the one with the highest death rate. Fights to the death are a daily experience not just whenever Logan felt like it.” Braeden explained. 

“And you’ve spent time in all of them?” Danny asked quietly and Stiles hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Jesus.” Danny muttered and Ethan put a comforting hand on his shoulder, Stiles felt bad for upsetting Danny, but, it wasn’t like he could lie, not when they could all hear his heart beating. 

“Alright, so here’s the plan,” Peter announced, “We get a few hours’ sleep now, we go meet with Chris’ guy, get some weapons, then we head to San Bernardo and take out this ring. Then the other two and then we go home and sleep for a week.” 

“I really hope this plan gets more specific as we go.” Aiden muttered and Cora snorted in amusement. They settled down to go to sleep again and this time Erica and Boyd moved to lie on either side of Stiles, not touching him but close enough so that he couldn’t get past them without disturbing them, he shook his head in amusement at their antics, if he wanted to leave, he would, there wasn’t anything any of them could do about it. 

Stiles drifted in and out of sleep for the next few hours, making sure he was always ready to react if necessary. Eventually Lydia got up to use the bathroom and when she came back out she was clean and showered and looking at Stiles. 

“We need to get you some clothes.” She sniffed. “You can’t wander around half naked, it might be a little suspicious plus very distracting.” 

“There’s a couple of shops down the road, you might find something there.” Derek muttered and Stiles frowned, he hadn’t realised Derek was awake.

“Okay, are you going to come with me? Or just sit there pretending to sleep?” Lydia asked and Stiles jumped to his feet, suddenly desperate to get out of the stifling room. “Swords and arm guards stay here.” Lydia reprimanded as if he was a child, Stiles tightened his grip on them and Lydia continued to glare before he finally lay the swords down on the floor, he still had four knives in the back of his shorts, if they couldn’t get him out of whatever mess he might get in to then chances were the swords wouldn’t either. 

He took the arm guards off silently, feeling bare without them, seeing Lydia’s eyes drift to the scars there, he crossed his arms defensively, daring her to say something, instead she just looked a little sad before spinning on her heel towards the door.

“I’ll come with you.” Cora grinned as she stood up near the door. 

“Me too.” Aiden added, “I think Stiles will need a man’s input.” He teased and Stiles rolled his eyes. 

“Get whatever you need.” Derek said, pulling out his card and handing it to Lydia but speaking directly to Stiles. Stiles rolled his eyes, stupid Alpha thinking he could buy Stiles’ forgiveness. Just because Stiles hadn’t killed him yet didn’t mean he wouldn’t do if he felt like it. 

They wandered down the road to the row of shops, Stiles noticed that more than a few people were staring at him as he walked and he felt more uncomfortable by the second. In the rings, his scars were symbols of his status, of the fights he had survived, out here they made him a freak. He clenched his fists tightly, unwilling to show any kind of weakness to anyone. 

They strolled into the store and the man behind the counter turned to look at them, his eyes landing on Stiles, on his bare feet, and his lip curled in distaste before he turned back to the magazine that was resting on the desk. 

Lydia picked out a handful of clothes, shorts, jeans, t-shirts both short and long sleeved, before looking at the way the shorts hung low on his hips.

“I guess boxers too, right?” She asked and he blushed slightly before nodding. Lydia looked like she was ready to burst into tears and Stiles was confused about that, when did Lydia Martin even realise who he was? Never mind get upset over the fact he didn’t have boxers? 

“Do you have any trainers?” Cora asked the guy behind the counter as they piled the clothes on the counter. Stiles had to try on a pair of trainers, he didn’t like them, they felt too constrictive, didn’t let him feel the ground beneath his feet, to make sure he had the best footing possible. 

“Stiles you have to wear shoes at some point.” Lydia sighed and Stiles glared at her before throwing the trainers on the top of the pile and huffing loudly. He wasn’t going to wear them, purely on principle, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t petty and wouldn’t enjoy spending as much of Derek’s money as he felt like. He heard Cora’s intake of breath when she caught sight of the inside of his forearms, he moved his arms down to his sides quickly, ignoring the way that Aiden looked at him in pity for a moment.

When they got back to the motel Stiles marched straight to his arm guards throwing them on first before he went to the bathroom to get dressed. 

“Everything okay?” Jackson asked, rubbing a comforting hand up and down Lydia’s arm. 

“Fine.” She replied in a clipped voice, it was obvious to all of them that everything was not fine. 

“He’s got scars, on his arms.” Cora whispered.

“So? Compared to the rest of him, what did you expect?” Ethan asked in confusion. 

“Different kind of scars.” Aiden said and a silence fell in the room.

“You mean,” Noah began, swallowing heavily, “self-inflicted?” 

“It looks like he tried to kill himself.” Cora said, Stiles choosing that exact moment to come back out of the bathroom and hear her words, all the pack turning to look at him in shock. 

“Stiles…” Noah whimpered, the idea of Stiles hurting himself like that making him feel sick.

“Turns out they wouldn’t even let you kill yourself unless it’s for their entertainment.” Stiles gritted out humourlessly. 

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Danny said darting to the bathroom, Stiles rolled his eyes, moving back to the corner to grab his swords. He’d thrown on a pair of dark shorts where he could still fit his knives easily down the back of them and a short sleeved white t-shirt that covered the majority of his scars, his arm guards covering the others. He didn’t want to upset them, especially not his dad, but what was he supposed to say? They’d obviously seen them; did they want him to pretend that someone else had made them? That he hadn’t tried to end things when he couldn’t take any more?

“Stiles, kiddo, what happened?” Noah asked gently, taking a step towards him, too quickly, it made Stiles flinch, his hand automatically going to one of his knives and the look on his dad’s face made him fill up with guilt, his dad looked broken and Stiles had done that. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” Noah whispered and Stiles shook his head, he was the one that should be sorry, instead he shoved the knife back in the shorts and put his hand out, resting it lightly on his father’s arm, offering whatever comfort he could. 

“We should get going.” Chris said a moment later, “My guy isn’t going to hang around all day and we still need to get some food.” 

They threw their bags into the backs of the cars, Scott offering him a small smile as he took the bag with Stiles’ clothes in and putting it in the back of his car, Stiles turned and marched away, getting in a car with Peter, his dad and Melissa instead, ignoring the look of hurt on Scott’s features, he deserved to hurt, this was Scott’s fault. 

They stopped at a diner on the way, ordering drinks and meals, Derek wanted to ask Stiles about food, about what he ate in the rings, he’d built muscle since they’d last seem him, but he was still lean and wiry, it suggested that although he didn’t starve food probably wasn’t all that common. Derek’s thoughts were proved correct when the food arrived, Stiles shoved the food into his mouth like he wasn’t sure when his next meal was going to be, huddled over his plate like someone was going to snatch it away from him if he didn’t eat it first. He barely managed to eat half of what was on his plate, despite his best efforts, before he dashed to the toilet and all the wolves winced when they heard him throw up. 

He came back out a few minutes later, looking at the plate of half-eaten food in front of him with a look of annoyance on his features. Noah asked for the rest of the food to be bagged up to take away, Stiles glanced at him gratefully and Noah put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I’m fine.” Stiles said, shaking his dad’s hand off. 

“It’ll just take time son.” Noah replied gently, “Until then, let’s stick to basics for you, soup, bread, that kind of stuff, okay?” Stiles nodded but they could all smell the embarrassment wafting off him, how could Derek reassure him that it was okay? How could any of them? None of them had any idea what Stiles had been through, what he’d had to endure in his time away from them, it’d just take time, time for Stiles to relax, to open up about what happened to him, to heal. Until then they’d just have to wait.

They walked into the small shop and Chris approached the man at the counter, shaking his hand firmly before following him through to the back room motioning for the rest of them to follow. Stiles wasn’t sure what they were going to get here, it looked like an old junk shop, instead, when he stepped through the back room and into another side room, he was greeted by a bright white room with shelves upon shelves of weaponry.

The pack were looking around in something akin to awe when the man who owned the place, Jasper, looked at Stiles with wide eyes.

“You’re The Kid!” He shouted excitedly and Stiles flinched, “Wow, man, I saw you fight at Santiago, you were brutal,” Jasper moved towards him, hands waving in admiration, “Do you remember the day that day when you had to do back-to-back fights, like they were just trying to see how far they could push you, and then you won every single one and you called the Alpha out, oh my god, I remember it like it was yesterday,” he looked at the blank looks on the packs faces and smiled wider, “You guys should have seen it, okay, so just imagine, The Kid has been fighting for going on twelve hours straight, he’s taken a fucking beating and he just keeps getting back up every time, taking down every opponent he goes up against and the Alpha in charge was all pissed and snarling, started shouting about punishment and, you remember what you said? He just squares straight up to the guy, and he goes ‘if you want to see me beaten so badly then why don’t you fight me yourself oh mighty Alpha, unless you’re afraid?’” Jasper cackled. “Oh man, it was brilliant.” He wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye.

“Can we focus on why we’re here?” Kira said, breaking the tension in the room that Jasper apparently seemed unaware of. “We need weapons.” 

“Sure, sure.” Jasper grinned, not taking his eyes off Stiles, Derek could smell the discomfort coming from Stiles but you wouldn’t be able to tell just from looking at him, he looked tense, but not obviously so. “I’ve got a great selection of knives over here Kid, I bet you’d love to see some of them?” 

“His name is Stiles.” Isaac said and Jasper looked at him in confusion, “He’s not called The Kid, he’d called Stiles.” 

“Sure, yeah, whatever.” Jasper said, pulling out a few drawers and waving Stiles over, Stiles moved towards them, signalling to his dad that it was fine. The room went silent for a moment and then Braeden moved towards the guns and Allison followed her, eventually they all started to move, picking up the weapons that would work best for them, that felt most comfortable, all of them aware that Jasper was still talking to Stiles.

“You know, that fight with the Alpha was really good to watch, can I ask, can you show me that move? Like, you broke his neck with your bare hands, so, I mean, can you show me how you did it? I mean, I know I saw how you did it, but, like, it was so damn quick, I might have kind of missed it, can you show me again?” Jasper rambled and Stiles glared at him. “Alright, okay, well, that’s fine, I mean I totally understand why you don’t want to show me, but, can I ask you something else instead?” 

Derek glanced around at his pack, they could all sense how uncomfortable Stiles was, it was time to end this. 

“I think this gun is too heavy for me.” Lydia said sweetly, distracting Jasper for an instant, “Have you got anything lighter?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Jasper said, moving towards Lydia and opening another drawer below her, pulling out the slightly smaller guns and offering them to her. “So, anyway, can I ask you about another fight of yours that I saw?” Jasper said moving back towards Stiles, “There was this other one I watched, and like, I heard a rumour, but I’m just wondering if it’s true, because, you weren’t trying to kill her, it was totally obvious to all of us that you wanted her to kill you, that you were going to let her kill you, and I heard that you and her were friends? I mean, is it true? Because having to watch them shoot her…” He was cut off suddenly by Stiles’ hand around his throat and a knife pressed against his cheek. 

“You don’t talk about her, not ever.” Stiles snarled and the entire pack tensed, Jasper’s eyes went wide and he nodded minutely gasping for breath before Stiles dropped him to the ground, turning back around to the knives. They were good, better than anything else he’d had to deal with in his life, sharp, smooth, evenly balanced. He picked one up, threw it across the room where it landed in the wood solidly, he threw another, then another, each time hitting his mark without issue. He strode over to the door, ignoring the way the others were all staring at him in awe, snatched the knives out and then stormed back over to the drawer, taking out as many knives as he could carry, grinning when he found several sheaths in one of the bottom drawers.

“I’ve got swords.” Jasper gasped when he found his voice again and Stiles turned towards him, arching an eyebrow and waiting. Jasper scrambled to his feet, pulling open a cupboard behind them and Stiles’ eyes went wide, a look of pure joy on his face, Derek supposed he should probably be worried that Stiles looked so damn excited by the swords. Stiles moved forwards stroking the swords almost reverently before pulling two short swords off the wall and swinging them softly. 

“I want these.” Stiles whispered, Derek knew that there would be no way to dissuade Stiles, not that he wanted to, in that moment, Derek would have given him anything he wanted if he meant he got to see Stiles smile like that again.

“You can have them.” Jasper smiled, “Wait until I tell everyone that The Kid pulled a knife on me, it’ll be awesome, honestly, no one will believe me, hey, can I get a photo with you?” 

“And that’s enough.” Peter said heatedly, moving in between Stiles and Jasper. “You got holsters for these?” He asked gesturing to the guns he was holding. Jasper nodded, moving to a case in the middle of the room and opening it to show a selection of holsters.

Stiles picked out two sheaths putting the swords on his back, a long sword at his waist, an array of knives around the waist band of his shorts and a thigh holder, it would stay in place better with a pair of jeans rather than his shorts, instead he pulled his shorts up, strapped it to his bare thigh and then repositioned it so he could access the knives easily before pulling his short leg back down. 

“You want a gun to go with those knives?” Erica said sarcastically and Stiles snorted, shaking his head, he was better with knives than guns, but, he guessed one gun couldn’t hurt. He slipped a gun down the back of his shorts, feeling like he probably had enough weaponry to take out a small army, he’d need it before he was done.

“Here.” Derek said, slipping off his light weight jacket and handing it to Stiles, “You look like you’re about to go to war, it might be a good idea to cover up the weapons until you need them.” He explained, Stiles glanced at the jacket distrustfully before finally snatching it and shoving it on. Derek really liked the way that Stiles smelled in his clothes, the guilt at that thought tore through him a moment later, he was with Braeden, they were together, he cared for her. Stiles, well, Stiles wasn’t, they weren’t, there was nothing going to happen there. 

Chris went to hand Jasper a stack of cash but he waved them away, insisting that a photo with Stiles would cover all costs and Chris glanced at him in uncertainty before Stiles stormed forwards and stood next to Jasper, waiting patiently as Jasper fumbled his phone from his pocket and handed it to Chris. 

“Erm, smile I guess?” Chris said weakly as Stiles glared at him, Jasper threw an arm around his shoulders and Stiles full on flinched, it made Derek feel sick. 

Braeden sat in the car with him on the way to the fighting ring, directing him, she seemed subdued and Derek wasn’t sure what he could say to her, he did care for her, but there had always been something holding him back, mainly the fact that whatever he felt for her was only a fraction of what he felt for Stiles. She’d never been pack, sure, the others tolerated her, even liked her, but she’d never been willing to fully commit to the pack and Derek had never pushed her, it didn’t feel right to push her to join the pack, she should just want to. He glanced across at her, reached and squeezed her hand softly, letting her know that he was still here, that he wasn’t going anywhere. 

He thought back to their first date, how Braeden had asked him about if they would have even been going out together if Stiles was still alive, he didn’t have an answer for her then and he had no more of an answer for her now. 

“We should find somewhere to park, it’s about half a mile ahead of us.” Braeden said hours later, giving Derek a tentative half smile. He pulled up a little further down the road and the convoy of cars pulled up behind him, the pack getting out and looking around unsurely, Stiles was the exception, he wasn’t unsure, he was confident, assessing the area as if preparing for attack. 

The sun was just starting to set in the distance and Derek was a little relieved, hoping the heat would begin to dissipate and they could move a bit easier. 

“So, what’s the plan here?” Melissa asked a moment later, looking to Braeden for more information.

“The entrance is about quarter of a mile ahead, we go in, down a set of stairs, through the security gate and the ring is straight ahead of us.” Braeden said.

“Underground?” Cora asked in surprise. 

“How are we going to get the weapons past the security gate? Unless you plan to take the guard out there and then?” Danny said. 

“No, I think, if I remember rightly, there’s four guards on duty, we couldn’t take them out before one of them hits the alarm, then the gates come down and we’re trapped in there.”

“We’re not going in without weapons.” Allison snarled, “That nearly got us killed last time.” Stiles rolled his eyes and pushed past Scott and started walking forwards, the rest of the pack followed him, glancing at each other uncertainly. 

“The entrance is there.” Braeden said, pointing out a door ahead of them, Stiles turned right and continued onwards. “Where are you going?” Stiles didn’t say anything, just carried on walking, until, eventually, a few hundred feet later he stopped in the middle of an empty car lot. 

“Okay, what’s the plan here exactly?” Noah asked. 

“The levers to lower the cages are on the far wall.” Stiles said, “Jackson, Ethan and Boyd can do it. Cora and Aiden, you guys cut the power to the collars. Cut the main line, it’s in the office behind the levers.” Stiles explained firmly.

“Two questions.” Lydia began primly, “One, what about the rest of us? And two, how are we even going to get in there in the first place?” 

“Humans stay here, too much of a drop, the others, keep out of my way.” Stiles shrugged, slipping off the jacket and pulling the swords from the sheaths on his back.

“That doesn’t answer how you plan on getting in.” Isaac said in confusion and Stiles only smirked at him. Without warning Stiles slammed his foot down onto the ground and Derek heard a dull thud echo, it took him a moment but then his eyes went wide.

“We’re above the ring!?” He asked incredulous and Stiles grinned. “So, how do we get in?” Stiles closed his eyes in concentration and Derek’s breath caught with the scent of magic in the air before suddenly the ground shifted and a hole began to open up in the ground, Stiles jumping in without hesitation and disappearing from view. Derek jumped in straight after him, not caring what he might find on the other side so long as he didn’t lose sight of Stiles. 

He slid through about six feet of earth, seeing a light coming from beneath him, before the hole ended and he was falling towards the solid earth twenty foot below him. He saw Stiles land gracefully below him, knowing that magic had to be involved somewhere, he bent his knees to absorb some of the impact as he hit the ground next to Stiles, landing hard and stumbling slightly but still managing to stay standing, he understood why Stiles had said the humans wouldn’t survive it. 

They’d landed in the middle of the ring where a fight had been taking place, instead the entire crowd had fallen silent, staring at Stiles in surprise, turning their attention to Derek only briefly as the rest of his pack landed behind them, some a little unsteadily, but still there. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, The Kid!” Someone announced through the speakers surrounding them and everyone in the vicinity went wild, Derek was confused, didn’t they realise that they were here to destroy this ring? Derek assessed his surroundings as quickly as he could, seeing the levers and the office that Stiles had mentioned outside of the ring, there was a tall electrical fence between them and the power though, Derek tried not to panic about that, Stiles would have a plan he was sure. The gladiators were hanging in cages a few feet above head height, the cages so small that they every gladiator was practically curled up, unable to move about without hitting the bars. People in the crowd poking at prodding at them, with bare fingers, with sticks, sometimes even with cattle prods, the sound of muffled screams making Derek wince. The idea that Stiles had been trapped in one of those made Derek snarl and his eyes flashed red. 

“Leave now and live.” Stiles shouted, his voice loud and confident and deadly. The crowd didn’t seem to believe him, although the two gladiators in the ring looked at him in terror.

“The only one not leaving here is you.” The voice said again, “We heard you’d escaped, I just didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come here.” The gate opened ahead of them and guards flooded in, Stiles tensing slightly before he burst into action, Derek was motionless for a moment, unable to tear his gaze from Stiles’ actions, as he used his swords to deflect the tasers that were aimed straight at him, slid to his knees and his swords sliced through two of the guard’s legs. He was running forwards again, shoving his sword in the gap where the gate had been closing again, levering it open, the mechanics of the gate grinding to a stop. Stiles turned around, whipping out some of the knives from the back of his shorts and throwing them, hitting another three guards in the chest as they went down hard. 

Derek broke out of his trance, charging forwards and swiping claws at one of the guards who managed to dodge out of his way, Derek could hear the roars of his pack behind him, could hear the clash of metal against metal as Stiles swung his remaining sword against one of the guards who’d pulled out a gun. 

Within a minute all the guards inside the ring had fallen to the ground and Derek took a second to check his pack were all uninjured before Stiles was prying open the gate and smirking widely as the crowd looked on in a shocked silence, their scents filled with terror.

“Boo.” He whispered and suddenly everyone was sprinting for the exit, shouting in fear, running away from Stiles like he was the bogeyman, Stiles looked a little surprised at the reaction he got but Derek couldn’t help but be impressed. There were more reinforcements on the way, Derek could hear them coming. 

“Jackson, Boyd, Ethan, get the levers. Cora and Aiden, get the power. The rest of you, take out any guards coming our way.” Derek shouted, watching as everyone responded to his orders instantly, Stiles rolled his eyes and moved forwards, meeting the guards head on, rather than waiting for them to attack. Derek could only watch in awe. 

The odd guard did get past Stiles, running towards them while Stiles was distracted with other opponents, Derek took care of them before they reached the rest of his pack. It took ten minutes to get the power cut and the gladiators all down from their cages, the fronts opening up automatically when they hit the floor, and the gladiators scrambling out and towards the exit, none of them willing to fight their captors, just desperate to escape. 

“Is that it?” Erica asked in confusion when the guards began to retreat rather than attack, Stiles just twisted his swords slightly and moved forwards, Derek shrugged and went after him. They were met by a crowd of at least thirty guards, all holding guns, Derek could see movement behind them and a minute later the guards parted slightly and a short man stepped out. 

“I should thank you for killing Logan, now he’s dead I’m in charge. I appreciate that. So, I’m willing to let you leave, without any of you coming to any harm. And I won’t come after you.” The man began, they all looked to Stiles, to see what he wanted to do, they wanted to take the ring down but Derek didn’t want any harm to come to his pack, even Stiles couldn’t take out thirty guards before they got a shot off. 

In a movement so quick Derek wasn’t sure what happened the man looked down at his chest to see the knife protruding from there, his features went wide with surprise and he fell to the ground. The guards all tensed, not sure if they should be raising their guns or not, most of them looking completely and utterly terrified, even his pack were looking at Stiles like they’d never seen him before. 

“That was without any magic.” Stiles snarled, “You want to do this, you’ll die. Leave and live.” Some of the guards put their guns down on the floor, looking nervously towards the exit but there were a few who kept their guns on Stiles. “Put the guns down and I’ll let you live.”

“Why the fuck would you? You’re a cold-blooded killer. We put them down and you kill us.” One guard shouted.

“Put them down and I won’t kill you, I’ll let you take a message for me.” Stiles grinned ferally, “You can go to the other rings and tell them I’m coming for them too, tell them that if they’re still operating when I arrive I will kill them all. Tell everyone you meet that The Kid is going to tear the fighting rings apart. Tell them that my vengeance will be swift and merciless.” Stiles finished, sounding deadly, Derek couldn’t help the shiver of desire that ran through him at those words and Isaac and Boyd who were closest to him both looked at him like he was insane, he just shrugged. It also didn’t help that it was the most he’d heard Stiles say in one go since they’d found him, it kind of gave him hope that the Stiles he knew was still in there. 

“You don’t need all of us to deliver that message.” The same guard argued. “What’s to stop you killing most of us anyway?” Stiles rolled his eyes, sheathed his swords and glared at the guard.

“My word, it has more value than any of yours. Now, go!” He snarled, stepping out of their path and giving them a clear path to the exit, several of the guards looked at him suspiciously but eventually one of them moved forwards and the rest followed like sheep. 

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Noah said as soon as they’d left, “Now they’ll know we’re coming. They’ll be prepared.”

“It means that anyone with any common sense won’t be there.” Stiles retorted, marching forward and pulling his knife from the dead man’s chest, “I’m limiting casualties.” 

“Why do we have to kill anyone?” Scott asked, “We could just ask them politely?” Everyone turned to look at him like he’d gone insane and Scott just shrugged, “I just mean, we don’t have to kill them. We could just maybe arrange a meeting with the leaders, explain to them that they can close it down or we can destroy it? I don’t want to kill innocent people that are just following orders.” Stiles glared at him, looking at Scott like he was seeing him for the first time. 

“They don’t follow orders Scott,” Stiles spat angrily, “They do whatever they like whenever they like, the only order they have is to not let us escape and they do whatever they want apart from that.” 

“I just, I mean, some of them have families, people that will be expecting them to go home tonight and now they’ll never see them again.” Scott said sadly, the anger radiating off Stiles left Derek lost for words, he could barely breathe through it.

“And the people they kept prisoner?” Erica snarled at Scott, “The people they’ve had trapped in this hellhole for however long? We thought Stiles was fucking dead and they were keeping him from us, how many more of these prisoners have families waiting at home, never sure if their loved ones are alive or dead or ever coming home? How about you shut the fuck up about who we should and shouldn’t kill. You don’t know what happens here, Stiles does, and if he wants them dead then that’s fine with me.” 

“I didn’t, I don’t, I mean…” Scott trailed off, looking at Stiles with his puppy dog eyes, “I’m sorry Stiles, I didn’t think about you, about what you’ve been…”

“You never do.” Stiles snapped before pushing past him and heading to the exit. Derek turned to go after him, looking at Scott with disappointment, he wasn’t exactly making this any easier for any of them, none of them had any idea what Stiles had been through, they could guess but Derek wasn’t sure even the glimpse they’d seen would do justice to what Stiles had suffered. They needed to be there, support whatever decisions he made, or at least come up with rational arguments if they disagreed, prove that they were there for him now, no matter how much Derek had failed him in the past. He had to make it up to him somehow. 

Braeden, Kira, Danny, Lydia, Melissa and Chris were waiting in the hallway by the exit, Braeden rushing forward and pulling him into a tight hug when she saw him, he held her tightly for a moment but his eyes were still on Stiles’ retreating form, he wanted to make sure Stiles was okay but he had no idea what to do. 

When they got outside Stiles turned back around, thrusting his hands into the air and then bringing them down quickly, Derek watched as the hallway that they’d just come down collapsed in on itself, the ground around them shaking as the ring was demolished, the scent of magic flooding his senses as Stiles used it to destroy the arena.

Stiles walked silently ahead of them back to the cars, pulling out the map and tracing the roads with his fingertips, his mind obviously elsewhere. 

“We should find a motel, get some sleep before we head out again.” Chris suggested and Stiles looked up at him. “We won’t be in any condition to fight if we’re exhausted.” Stiles frowned, returning to his preference of not speaking now that there was nobody to threaten. “We need to work as a team Stiles, not that I’m doubting your ability to take out everyone in your path, but, we need to rest first, check out any injuries, recover.” Stiles paused for a moment before finally nodding, folding up the map and getting into the car in silence. 

They got six rooms at the motel but it was already an unspoken agreement that they would all sleep in the same room again, even if just to keep an eye on Stiles and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid like run off again.


	12. Chapter 12

“I’m curious.” Peter began an hour later when they were all sat in the room, Stiles was sat on the floor, his small arsenal surrounding him on the floor as he cleaned and sharpened each knife religiously, it was a little unnerving but Stiles looked more relaxed than Derek had seen him since they’d found him. 

“About what?” Danny asked, glancing up from where his head was resting in Ethan’s lap. 

“Stiles’ magic.” Peter replied and every muscle in Stiles’ body seemed to tense but he looked up and met Peter’s gaze. “You didn’t used to have magic?” Stiles scoffed and rolled his eyes. “How did you get it?” 

“You can’t steal it if that’s what you’re asking.” Stiles replied, going back to his knives and Peter looked surprised by the answer.

“I don’t care about power, believe it or not, I’m not the same person I was back then, I’m not bothered about stealing your magic, or using it against Derek, I wouldn’t dream of it.” Peter said sincerely, “I want to know how you ended up with magic because I’d like to know what happened to you since we last saw you, but, if you don’t want to tell us, then that’s okay too.” Stiles was silent and Peter sighed, “I think it has something to do with other casters dying, that their magic somehow transfers to you.” Stiles looked up at him startled, eyes going wide.

“What!? How would that work?” Noah said in shock. 

“When Derek killed the caster at the main arena, you shouted for him not to and a minute later you had another of those spirals burning into your skin, I think that if a caster dies in close proximity to you, somehow their power shifts to you, that’s why they put that newbie in the ring, because they knew someone would kill him and it would make you defenceless, at least for a minute. Am I right?” Peter said and Stiles sighed before eventually nodding. 

“When did you figure it out?” Allison asked Stiles and he shrugged. 

“Number four. In the arena. I killed her.” 

“And her magic transferred to you?” Jackson asked and Stiles nodded. 

“But, why? I mean, surely, you killed her, her magic shouldn’t want to be used by you, right?” Danny asked wincing slightly with apology at Stiles.

“Magic is inherently neutral.” Lydia replied, “It’s like a dog, there’s no such thing as a bad dog, only a bad owner, if the caster wants to use the magic to do bad things they will, the same for good casters.” She looked at Stiles, “What I don’t get, you wore the collar the entire time, which I assume has some kind of runes or something to stop people using magic? But then how did you know how to use the magic? Like, how to get it to do what you want it to do?” 

“I don’t know.” Stiles shrugged.

“That’s dangerous.” Lydia scolded, “You need to have control over magic, know what you’re doing, otherwise it can tear you apart, set you off like a nuclear bomb and you’ve got a load of power inside you, you need to have control over it.” Stiles just shrugged again and Derek fought the urge to growl at him, it wasn’t Stiles’ fault that he didn’t know how to control his magic, he’d have to ask Deaton to train him when they got home. 

“Lydia is right.” Chris said ominously, “I’ve seen casters that have literally blown themselves up trying to do magic that they don’t know how to do, I would suggest not using it again, not until you’ve managed to learn the basics at least.” 

“So, just to get this straight, Stilinski is like a ticking time bomb right now?” Jackson asked a little uncertainly.

“You mean you don’t want to be snuggle buddies Jacks?” Stiles snorted, making an actual joke and grinning, it made Derek’s heart stutter and he took a moment to collect himself, ignoring the way that Noah looked at him a little sadly when everyone else chuckled slightly. 

“Like I’d ever want to be your snuggle buddy.” Jackson retorted a minute later but it didn’t hold as much heat as it would have done once upon a time, Stiles grinned at him before returning to his knives, obviously deciding the conversation was finished. 

“But, you did do magic,” Scott said suddenly, “Before, before you were, um, taken, Deaton got you to complete the mountain ash line outside the club? So, maybe you already had magic?” Stiles sighed heavily, putting his final knife down and turning to meet the gaze of those around him, bracing himself, as if what he was about to say was hard for him to do so, or, possibly more accurately, that he was about to speak about something that wasn’t quick or to the point and he’d forgotten how to talk for that long. 

“According to Marcus, and I don’t know how reliable that is, Deaton called it a spark, Marcus called it a black hole, basically, I originally had a small amount of magic, but, because I hadn’t been properly trained I didn’t know how to use it, had I known how to use it, eventually, it would have grown more powerful and I could have become a caster. When I tried to kill myself, I died, at least for a few minutes, and when I came back, supposedly the caster in the arena, Lucy, she used her magic with mine and managed to bring me back but I came back wrong, the magic inside me pulls in any other unowned magic that’s around, so if someone dies nearby I get their magic.” 

“You died?” Noah asked, voice trembling. “It was that close?” Stiles nodded and suddenly Noah was stumbling towards him, wrapping arms around his shoulders, pulling Stiles close to him and inhaling his scent as he tried to calm himself. 

“It’s okay dad.” Stiles muttered reassuringly and that just made Noah break down into tears.

“No, it’s not. I should have known, I should have known you were alive, I should have come looking for you, god, I’m so sorry Stiles, I’m so sorry.” Noah sobbed and Stiles just rubbed soothing circles on his back, offering him whatever comfort he could. 

“It’s okay, I’m here dad, I’m okay.” 

“You’re not, you’ve gone through so much and I should have been here, if I’d had any idea you were alive Stiles, I would have been here. I promise you I would have come for you.” 

“I know you would have dad, it’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Stiles whispered, the entire room silent around them as they watched Noah and Stiles clutch at each other until eventually Noah’s tears stopped.

“Your magic brought you back? It saved you?” Lydia asked and Stiles nodded. “Why? Why did you do it? Was it that bad?” Stiles opened his mouth to speak and then shut it again, obviously thinking of what he wanted to say. 

“It’s okay, none of us will judge you.” Erica said and Stiles looked back down at his knives, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell us too, we’re here for you, whenever you are ready to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Stiles sighed eventually but his tone left no room to argue about it.

“Well, if you ever feel like it,” Kira said brightly, “We’re here, you can trust us.” Stiles didn’t outright disagree with Kira, but the looks he levelled Scott and Derek with made it perfectly clear that he didn’t trust either of them, would never trust them again, Scott curled inward slightly at the scowl Stiles sent in his direction.

“Maybe we should all get some sleep?” Braeden suggested and Derek startled slightly, he’d been so wrapped up in Stiles, in the way he held himself, like he was always ready for attack, how every word he said was important now, not the way he used to ramble about nothing, if he had something to say it was important. He’d sort of forgotten that Braeden was standing right next to him and he felt instantly guilty over that, he was with Braeden, not Stiles, there would never be anything between them like that, he had to start acting like it. 

They got to the third ring late the next day, this one was in an old abandoned warehouse, Derek could smell blood from a hundred feet away and it made his stomach roll uncertainly. Stiles marched straight for the front exit, the others practically running after him to keep up, Stiles didn’t even break his stride. He’d been right, anyone with any sense wasn’t at the arena, instead it was filed with guards and several smirking men who Derek assumed were in charge. 

The gladiators were packed into cages so tightly that Derek guessed at least some of them couldn’t breathe, they were calling out pathetically for The Kid, begging him to help them. In the middle of the ring there was a rather large, deep, bathtub, chained to the ground, half filled with what looked ice water and another cage just about breaching the surface of the water. 

“Kid. I assumed we’d be seeing you sooner rather than later.” A man at the back of the guards said, he stepped forward, trailing a finger over the edge of the bath, “We got your message, thanks so much for giving us the head up.” The man looked at the rest of the pack, saw them all looking at the bath in confusion, and smirked, “You want to know what this is? This is the ultimate torture technique.” He continued.

“Hardly.” Stiles said dryly, the man ignored the interruption. 

“You see, we put a gladiator in the bath, The Kid for example, and the only way he can breathe is if he keeps incredibly still, doesn’t let the water move, but, if you panic, you disturb the water and you drown, and, believe me, shivering disturbs the water.” The man grinned evilly and Derek growled, “What was your record again? I think it was forty-four hours, wasn’t it?” Stiles didn’t reply, didn’t show any indication that he’d heard anything the man had said, other than the slight tightening of his hands around his swords. “I remember that you couldn’t stand when we finally dragged you out, took you four days before you could even remember where you were, six before you could pick up a sword, it was fun to watch.”

“You’re a monster.” Melissa snarled. 

“No, The Kid is a monster. I’m just his guard, keeping the rest of the world safe from him. You think you’re helping him? You let him loose and he’ll kill you all. He doesn’t know any other way to be, do you? Besides, you enjoy it. Enjoy watching your opponent’s fall with your sword still in their chest. You’re a monster. I’m doing everyone a favour keeping you locked up in here.” The man taunted.

“That’s not true.” Cora snapped, glancing across at Stiles who still hadn’t shown any reaction, his eyes only assessing the guards that they were up against. “Stiles isn’t a monster. He’s our pack. And you hurt him. You’ll die for that.” 

“Oh? And how are you planning to do that? I have sixty heavily trained men here, all armed with automatic weapons, you can’t match that, so, I’ll make you an offer, leave The Kid with me and I’ll let you all leave unharmed.” 

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Erica retorted sarcastically. “Now, we’ll give you a choice, leave or die, right Stiles?” 

“He dies either way.” Noah snarled viciously at the man and Stiles nodded. 

“If that’s what you want.” The man grinned, opening up the cage in the top of the bath, “Kill everyone, leave The Kid alive, I’m going to enjoy finally breaking him.”

“You don’t get to lay a finger on my son, not now, not ever.” Noah growled, his claws coming out in preparation for a fight. 

“Son? Oh, well, that makes this even more interesting. Leave the old man alive too, let’s watch what happens when we kill him slowly.” The man taunted. 

“You’re forgetting something very important.” Stiles grinned, looking unreasonably triumphant and it should probably worry Derek, but it didn’t, instead he felt calm, Stiles was projecting his calm to the rest of the pack and if he was calm then Derek had no reason to worry. 

“Alright, why don’t you share this important information?” The man replied, still smiling smugly, thinking that they had no moves left. Stiles took a step towards them, his swords still hidden under Derek’s jacket, putting himself about half way between the pack and the guards, his hands behind his back and gesturing for the others to stay still, to wait. Everything inside of Derek screamed that this was wrong, Stiles shouldn’t be out in the open like this, but he had to trust him, had to trust that he knew what he was doing. 

“I’m not wearing a collar.” Stiles grinned, Derek had just a moment to register the complete terror appear on the man’s face before the earth shifted beneath them and everyone stumbled, everyone except for Stiles, who was already moving, knives flying through the air and striking their targets as he continued onwards, only pulling out his swords as he got within striking difference, using the shaking earth to his advantage and leaping lightly, gracefully, from one target to the next, taking out over half of the guards before they managed to finally lift their guns in his direction. 

Derek stumbled forwards, doing his best to help Stiles, no matter how pointless it felt, Stiles had it totally under control, but, still, he had to help, more than that though, he wanted to take out that bastard who had threatened Stiles, who had tortured him in that ice bath. Stiles was so busy taking care of the guards that Derek saw a clear path to the man in charge and he charged straight at him, only stumbling slightly with the moving earth. 

He’d underestimated the man’s strength, it was the only excuse he had for what happened next. He didn’t register the man was also a werewolf until he was only a couple of feet away and by then it was too late to stop himself. He threw himself straight at him and the man spun him around and slammed him straight into the bath, the icy water hitting his body and shocking him for only a moment, enough for the cage door above him to slam shut and Derek did his best not to panic, he shoved against the bars, growling in frustration when it made no difference, he did his best to stay still, but the water practically covered him, his lips only just breaking the surface before hitting the bars, he tried to still his shivering body, knowing it wasn’t working as the water sloshed in the bathtub, not enough to spill out over the sides, and covered him completely, it probably didn’t help that the floor it was standing on was still shaking. He held his breath, sure he was about to drown and wondering how he could be so fucking stupid, he had to pray that someone got to him and rather quickly.

Derek wasn’t sure how much time passed, a few minutes at least, his head was pounding as he held his breath for as long as he could. He thought that perhaps the ground had stopped shaking but it didn’t make any difference, he was shivering, the water around him still rocking and covering the cage, Derek knew that this was it, that he couldn’t hold his breathe any longer, that he was going to die in here. Suddenly the cage was opening up and someone was yanking him upwards, he broke the surface a moment later and saw Stiles standing above him, gripping him by his collar tightly and Derek wanted to say it was concern in his eyes but then as soon as Stiles realised that Derek was breathing and was alright, he let go of him.

“Fucking idiot.” Stiles muttered, moving away from the bathtub, picking his sword up from where it lay on the floor. Derek glanced around, taking in the scene around him, the majority of the guards were down on the ground, rolling around in pain, crying out for help. There were some still left standing and they had their hands held up in surrender, looking at Stiles with pure terror, the man who had been in charge was lying on the floor next to the bathtub, his body in one place, his head in another. Now that the floor had stopped shaking the rest of the pack were stumbling towards them, Braeden had tears in her eyes as she pulled Derek into a tight hug, checking him over for injuries as he pushed her gently away and climbed out of the bathtub, dripping water everywhere. 

“Thank you.” Derek muttered, Stiles kept his back to him but nodded slightly and Derek was going to assume that was the best he would get, really, he should just be thankful that Stiles saved him, considering the fact that he’d had a sword at his throat twice in the last three days, the fact that Stiles even decided to save him meant that maybe he didn’t want Derek as dead as he made out. 

“If I wanted you dead you would be.” Stiles snapped and Derek blinked stupidly. Had he said that out loud? 

“They mix herbs in with the water, it’s going to make him act a little weird for the next few days, he only got a short exposure, so hopefully it’ll wear off in a couple of hours, just don’t let him do anything too strenuous, no big decisions, or driving, or thinking.” Stiles continued, sounding pained, still without looking at any of them. 

“You’re hurt.” Noah said suddenly, rushing forward and studying Stiles, trying to figure out where the scent of blood was coming from. Stiles pushed his hands away softly but Noah could still see the blood staining his t-shirt, it was hard to miss. “Oh god, it’s okay, it’s not that bad.” Noah rambled, trying to reassure Stiles, they all heard the lie in his voice.

“What? What’s not that bad? Is he okay?” Derek said, stumbling towards Stiles, gripping his shoulder tightly, there was fresh blood over his shoulder where a set of claws had torn through the jacket and into his skin, but that wasn’t the issue, the bigger issue was the bullet wound in Stiles’ stomach. 

“Relax.” Stiles replied, although his voice sounded a little hoarse. “It’s a through and through, and I’m pretty sure it missed any major organs.” 

“How the hell would you even know that!?” Noah said and Stiles shrugged. 

“Wrong kind of pain.” He replied, like that didn’t raise a hundred more questions Derek thought sarcastically.

Melissa hurried towards him, pulling the jacket off and then the shirt, Derek started draining his pain instantly, seeing the t-shirt stained with blood on both sides, it terrified him. Melissa was poking the wound gently and Derek was surprised when Stiles didn’t even react to it, he must be in shock. 

“Would you shut up!” Stiles snapped, “I’m not in shock, and take your hands off me before I do decide you’d be less annoying dead.” Derek took his hand off Stiles instantly and Noah looked at him in sympathy, using his own hand to start draining the pain, “I don’t need your help.” Stiles said, pushing his dad’s hand away. “It’s fine.” 

“You’ve got a gunshot wound to the stomach. That is not fine.” Melissa scolded, applying pressure to the heavily bleeding wound. 

“I’ve got it.” Stiles replied, pushing her hand away, “Magic remember?” He offered her as reassurance. 

“You can heal yourself?” Ethan asked in shock and Stiles shrugged, his meaning clear for all of them, that they were about to find out. He closed his eyes, scrunched them up slightly in concentration, a moment later they were all blasted backwards by a concussive wave that knocked them all off their feet. Derek scrambled back upwards a moment later, checking his pack over before seeing Stiles lying on the ground in front of them, he rushed forwards, seeing the blood still pumping out of the wound on his stomach. 

“Jesus.” Derek muttered, pressing his hands tight over the wound, “Okay, so I guess magic healing doesn’t work, but, it’s okay, we’ve totally got this.” He couldn’t help but catch sight of the tattoos, notice the fact that they seemed to have moved, instead of trailing down to his hip like they had been before, they were now circling from his side and then splitting, so that they went either side of the bullet wound before half spiralled towards his opposite side and the other moving around towards his back. 

“What do we do? How do we help?” Scott said panicked as Melissa shoved him out of the way as Stiles stirred slightly, his eyes opening a fraction before he promptly rolled to his side and threw up. 

“Stiles!” Noah shouted in worry. “Are you okay? Can you hear me?” 

“It’s okay, there’s no blood in the sick, means no internal bleeding, we just need to stop the bleeding.” Melissa reassured them. “Stiles, honey, can you open your eyes for me?” Melissa asked, pulling Stiles’ eyes open and looking at him with worry, taking his pulse with her other hand. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles slurred, smacking Melissa’s hand away weakly, Derek couldn’t help the snort of laughter he let out at that, Stiles was not okay, definitely not okay. Stiles groaned, propping himself up on his elbows before losing what little was left of his colour, his eyes rolling backwards and he passed out. 

Derek would have panicked but he could still hear the steady beat of Stiles’ heart, he was still breathing, his heart still beating. Derek glanced around, the pack were all hovering nearby, the gladiators still trapped in the cages around the outside of the ring, still shouting for help.

“Cora, Peter, Jackson, go let them out.” Derek snapped. “Melissa, what do you need to stop the bleeding?”

“It’s not life threatening. We need to move him, clean the wound out to prevent infection, we’ll need to stitch it closed and possibly a couple of pints of blood, but, he’s not about to die.” Melissa reassured them, “Noah, pick him up, let’s get him to the car, I’ll start treating him while you find a motel.”

Within two minutes they were on the move, Derek climbing into the passenger seat while Noah drove and Melissa tended to Stiles in the back seat, in the enclosed space the scent of Stiles’ blood was even stronger, he knew Noah was struggling too. Noah’s hands were so tight on the steering wheel that Derek was surprised it hadn’t already broken under the strength of his grip. He didn’t even wait to see if the rest of the pack were following them, he just trusted that they would, his main priority right now was Stiles, making sure he was okay. 

Ethan and Danny went to book them rooms as they were the cleanest, as soon as they returned with the keys Noah picked Stiles up from the back seat and carried him bridal style into the nearest room, lying him down on the bed and cutting the shirt off properly as Melissa carried in the first aid kit and assessed the situation.

“Alright, the rest of you go catch some sleep, he’s going to be out of it for a couple of hours at least. I’ll let you know when he wakes up.” Melissa reassured them, ushering the hovering pack towards the door, Braeden looked at Derek, obviously waiting for him to go with the rest of them. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings but he couldn’t leave Stiles here when he was hurt, knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing Stiles might still be bleeding out in the room next door. 

“I’ll wait here.” Derek muttered, Braeden’s features hardened slightly before she spun on her heel and left the room, the rest of the pack looking at him with astonishment before he shrugged and moved towards where Noah was starting to clean the wound out. “What can I do to help?” He asked as soon as the door had shut. 

“Nothing.” Melissa replied calmly, “If you insist on staying then sit on the other bed.” She finished, not unkindly, a minute later Noah was given the same treatment so Derek didn’t feel too bad about it, Melissa obviously just needed the space to work.

Derek waited as patiently as he could as he watched Melissa first clean out the wound and then slowly start to stitch it shut, she asked Noah and Derek to turn Stiles on his side and hold him there until she could stitch closed the wound on his back, before turning her attention to the more minor injuries, a couple of small scratches across the top of his chest, the claw marks on his shoulder and another set on his back that they hadn’t noticed before. The entire time all Derek could think about was that Stiles was alive, the firm warm flesh under his fingertips proved that, Stiles was alive, Derek was almost certain that Noah was thinking the same thing, if the way his fingers trailed softly through Stiles’ hair was any indication. 

“Okay.” Melissa said eventually, sighing slightly and wiping her brow with the back of her hand. “His vitals are looking good, I don’t think we need to give him any blood, just rest. It’ll probably take him a few days before he’ll be able to get up and about. But, he’s going to be fine.” She reassured them and Noah collapsed onto the second bed in sheer relief, running a hand through his hair as Melissa sat beside him and clutched his hand tightly, all of them looking at the still unconscious Stiles.

“I just, I can’t believe he’s back, you know? I’ve thought he was gone, thought he was dead, that I’d never get the chance to tell him how much I love him, and then he’s here, right in front of me, and I just, I can’t wrap my head around it.” Noah confessed, “He’s not the same kid I remember. He’s harder, colder, he killed some of those men today and wounded the others without hesitation. I know it was necessary, that it needed to be done, but, the Stiles I remember wasn’t the best with the sight of blood. What if the Stiles I know isn’t here anymore? What if he is gone forever?” 

“It’ll take time, for all of us, and for Stiles.” Melissa replied, rubbing Noah’s arm soothingly, “We can’t even begin to imagine what he’s been through in the past few years, what he’s had to do to survive. We just have to show him that we’ll be there for him, that when he’s ready to talk, we’ll be there to listen. Make sure that he knows how much we all love him. He’s still Stiles, he’s just had to grow up, and he hasn’t had anyone that he can trust. Only himself. I know it’s hard for us, but, imagine how hard it is for him. He has had to survive by himself. We’ve always had each other’s backs, he’s had no one. But he’s still Stiles, and we’ll just have to prove that we are there for him when he needs us. Get him to trust us again.” 

There was silence in the room after Melissa’s speech, just the steady breathing coming from Stiles. Derek knew she was right, that he would have to regain Stiles’ trust, that it would take time and effort but he knew he wouldn’t stop until he had. 

“You should go get some sleep.” Noah advised and Derek glanced at Stiles worryingly, “We’ll come wake you up as soon as he’s conscious.”

“Okay.” Derek mumbled in agreement, feeling his exhaustion wash over him as he left the room and moved along the row of rooms until he caught Braeden’s scent, she smelt unhappy and Derek wished that he hadn’t been the cause of that. He opened the door quietly, hoping not to disturb her but wasn’t surprised when he saw that she was still awake, sat on the bed and looking at him with worried eyes. “Hi.” He muttered uncertainly.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d be seeing you at all tonight.” Braeden said tensely. 

“I’m sorry.” Derek replied, “He’s pack, I’d have stayed for any of the others too.” 

“But he’s not like any of the others, is he? You love him, not just as a member of the pack, you love him.” Braeden insisted. 

“I did.” Derek agreed, “But things are different now, he’s different now. And, I’m with you.”

“You’re settling for me.” Braeden scowled and the guilt Derek felt nearly overwhelmed him. 

“No. Look, I loved him, but he never knew that, and he never felt the same way, and I moved on. I moved on with you. I want to be with you.” He said as truthfully as he could. 

“But you still care about him, you only moved on because you thought he was dead!” Braeden hissed, doing her best not to raise her voice as disturb any of the other wolves in the rooms nearby but unable to control her hurt and anger. “If you’d known he was still alive you wouldn’t have looked twice at me.” 

“We don’t know that. I could have made a move on him and Stiles would have rejected me and then I still would have moved on, besides, he’s not interested in me, and I’m with you. That’s not going to change. I care about you.”

“But you haven’t said you love me. We’ve been dating six months Derek and you haven’t told me you love me once! Because you’re still in love with him!”

“I love you!” Derek shouted angrily, not even sure why they were having this argument, nothing was going to happen between him and Stiles, Stiles could barely look at him without scowling, without looking like he was ready to kill Derek. Nothing was going to happen there and he didn’t want to lose Braeden over something so stupid, over something that was never going to be reciprocated. 

“I don’t believe you!” Braeden shouted.

“Jesus Christ!” Derek groaned, this was really testing his patience, “What do I have to do to prove that you matter to me? Whatever I had with him, however I felt about him, that’s not the case, not anymore, you’re the one I’m with, I’m standing right here, aren’t I?”

“After spending hours watching over him!” 

“Because he’s a member of the pack who has been hurt! What do you expect? I’d do the same for any of them!”

“Why aren’t I pack?” Braeden asked abruptly, “I mean, we’ve been dating six months and you’ve never once mentioned that I should join the pack?” Derek’s eyes went wide with surprise, his mouth hanging open for a moment before he managed to get his mouth to move.

“You never acted like you wanted to be pack, you always keep your distance, I thought that it was because you didn’t want it.” 

“I want you, however I can have you. If I have to join the pack to make it official, then that’s fine with me.” Braeden said confidently ad Derek couldn’t even begin to process this, she shouldn’t have to join the pack. She should want to. 

“Make it official?” He asked instead.

“That I’m your mate.” Braeden replied and Derek knew he was staring but he couldn’t quite understand what was going on here, they’d never discussed about being mates, they were just dating, he hadn’t thought she’d wanted to get that serious. Braeden shifted off the bed and moved towards him, looping her fingers through his belt loops and pulling their hips close together, “I mean, we love each other, you want to be with me, I want to be with you, I just want to make it official so we can start the rest of our lives together.” 

“Okay.” Derek replied, his tongue feeling too big in his mouth, his lips dry, his mind recalling what Stiles had said, that he shouldn’t be making any big decisions for the next couple of days, he ignored it. “When we get home, after all this is taken care of, we’ll talk about making it official, okay?” 

“Very.” Braeden smiled, pulling Derek into a hard, fast kiss, it took him a moment to respond, but eventually, he decided to push their conversation to the back of his mind and just live in the moment. They moved over to the bed, Braeden pushing him backwards onto the mattress, pulling his shirt off as they went, her lips roaming over his chest as she kissed him over and over. 

An hour later they lay back on the tangled sheets, both covered in a fine sheen of sweat, Braeden grinning at him widely and Derek kissing her as sweetly as he could, Braeden never bothered with sweet or gentle kisses, it was all or nothing, sometimes he didn’t want to rush, sometimes he wanted to take his time, but, that never seemed to happen, even when he tried they just ended up rushing through everything. 

He closed his eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep, his mind plagued with the events of the day, the ice bath, Stiles bleeding on the ground unconscious, Braeden being his mate, he dreamed of them back in Beacon Hills, of his pack living in the house, Braeden at his side, their hands intertwined, the rest of the pack looking on, small smiles on all their faces, apart from Noah, he looked disappointed, disappointed in Derek. Then he saw Stiles, standing behind the rest of the pack, dressed as a gladiator, the helmet obscuring his features from view.

“Stiles!” Derek called in surprise when Stiles turned away from the ceremony, chased after him, breaking his hand free of Braeden’s grip, “Wait!” He ran after Stiles but couldn’t catch him, he was always just out of reach, and then suddenly they were in the ring, Stiles was cutting his collar off and shrugging his shoulders and a pair of huge white wings appeared behind him, Derek was frozen in place, not understanding what was happening. 

“Stiles, please.” Derek sobbed as Stiles flapped his wings and raised himself a few feet off the ground. “I’m so sorry, just, please, don’t leave.”

“I don’t trust you.” Stiles spat angrily and Derek felt something shatter in his chest. 

“I’m sorry, please, just wait.” 

“I waited for you Derek, I waited for years and you never came. You left me here to die.” 

“But we got you out, you’re not dead.”

“Why do I have wings then? I’m an angel Derek. Don’t know how that happened after what I’ve done, but, someone deemed it fit to give me wings. Why would I be an angel if I’m not dead?” 

“No.” Derek muttered in denial, feeling so sick and confused and terrified, “No, this isn’t real, I’m dreaming.” Stiles shrugged and flapped his wings, the wind nearly knocking Derek over, it felt real, it felt so goddamn real. 

He gasped for breath as he sat up, the sheets twisted around his waist and Braeden still sleeping peacefully next to him. His dream came back to him a moment later, Stiles was dead, he was dead. Derek couldn’t stop the tears that spilled down his cheeks. He threw the sheets to one side, clambering out of the bed and pulling on his boxers before he rushed out of the room and down the path to Noah’s room. 

Stiles gasped as he woke up, rolling of the side of the bed, his hands going for the knife he caught sight of on the bedside table, clenching it tightly as he tried to gauge his surroundings, he didn’t remember what happened, he’d been at the ring, seen Derek get thrown into the bathtub, taken his eyes off his opponent for the briefest moment and then felt the pain of the bullet tearing through his stomach. Everything else was blank. His mind was fogged, he couldn’t think clearly, all he knew for certain was that he needed to be able to protect himself, that he’d slept too deeply and for too long and somebody was about to hurt him for it.

“Stiles, it’s okay.” He looked up, the knife still clenched tightly in his hand, his dad standing on the other side of the bed, his hands up in surrender, Melissa standing just behind him, peeking around his father’s shoulder, her face contorted with worry, “Put the knife down, you’re safe here.” Noah said calmly, Stiles was about to drop the knife, disgusted with himself for even picking it up and brandishing it in his father’s direction when suddenly the door opened and Derek barged in wearing only his boxers. “What the hell!?” Noah said to Derek and Stiles’ fingers only tightened. 

“Put the knife down Stiles.” Derek growled, his eyes flashing red in warning. He’d been about to knock when he heard Noah’s panicked voice, telling Stiles to put the knife down, he couldn’t believe that Stiles was threatening his own father, but Derek’s wolf drove him forwards, his pack was in danger, he had to protect them. His feet had carried him into the room before he even registered it, and now he was confronting Stiles, Stiles who looked pale and exhausted and was standing on the other side of the bed, not threatening his dad, instead looking confused and ready to defend himself if necessary. 

“Stiles, it was just a dream, put the knife down and we can talk about it.” Melissa whispered, Stiles hesitated for another moment, his eyes darting around the room, assessing the situation, the blood stained t-shirt in the trash, the throb of pain in his stomach that he knew belonged to the bullet wound, the worry on all three of their faces, as if they were afraid he was about to attack them. 

He shoved the knife down the back of his shorts, his emotions getting the best of him for a moment as he felt enormous guilt over what he’d done and anger that he’d done it, that he’d become a monster, that his own father was afraid of him. The man at the arena today had been right, he was a monster. 

“You okay now son?” Noah asked uncertainly and Stiles nodded, refusing to meet their gaze, he needed to get out of here, he needed to get away from them, it would be better for them if they’d never found out he was still alive. He couldn’t be here. He didn’t want them to see for themselves exactly how far gone he was. He moved towards the door and Derek stepped into his path. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Derek asked and Stiles bared his teeth at him. 

“Out.” He snarled. 

“Um no. Last time you went out you planned on leaving all of us. Unless that’s your plan again?” Derek snapped back, his wolf yipping happily that Stiles wasn’t submitting to them, Derek fought the urge to roll his eyes, his wolf was a pain in the ass sometimes. 

“Get out of my way.” Stiles said dangerously and Derek knew he shouldn’t feel the pulse of desire in his chest, but, it happened anyway. 

“No.” He replied calmly. Stiles scrunched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, there was no way Derek was letting him out of his sight, not in this state, Stiles would do something idiotic, he knew it. 

“I said move.” Stiles warned and Derek rolled his eyes, ignoring the looks of worry that both Noah and Melissa gave him. 

“I heard you. I just ignored you.” Derek replied evenly. He was kind of prepared for Stiles to attack him, he’d sort of expected it, he still wasn’t ready for it though, the way that Stiles’ fist connected solidly with his cheek, followed by another to his ribs. He heard the bones crack and then start to heal and he only just managed to grab hold of Stiles, dragging him backwards, as he darted for the door. 

“Derek! Stiles! Stop!” Melissa shouted but it had no effect, instead Stiles spun around and kicked Derek in the face, hard enough that he was sure it would leave a bruise for a few minutes at least. 

“Stop it!” Noah echoed but it didn’t do anything, Derek was determined to keep Stiles here where he belonged, Stiles seemed just as insistent to get away from him and he wasn’t fighting like a guy with a bullet wound to the stomach, if this was him injured Derek wouldn’t want to go against him when he was fighting fit. As it was Derek was only just holding his own. He managed to dodge Stiles’ latest fist and instead charged him, knocking him to the ground and pinning his wrists above his head while straddling his hips. 

“What the hell is going on!?” Peter shouted from the doorway, the rest of the pack hovering behind him, obviously afraid of interrupting the fight, Derek relaxed his grip on Stiles’ wrists, hoping that Stiles realised he was beaten and to stop struggling. Instead Stiles used his momentary distraction to break free of his grip, bucked his hips and rolled, so that he was the one on top with a knife pressed to his throat, Stiles scowling at him. 

“Is somebody going to tell us what the hell is going on here?” Chris said from the doorway, his hand on the holster at his hip. Stiles looked at them calculating before he punched Derek square in the face and when the pack rushed forward to pull him off Stiles went easily, allowing himself to be pushed to the back of the worried pack, closer to the open door. 

The punch had made Derek’s head spin slightly, in the few moments that it took for him to shake his head, climb back to his feet and push through his pack to where Stiles should have been, Stiles had already taken off running. Derek growled, his wolf happy to chase Stiles if he was going to run, the shift came easily and naturally and within a minute he was on all fours and running after Stiles, the rest of the pack hot on his heels.

Thank god for the fact that Stiles’ heartbeat seemed to be so easy to pick up, otherwise he would have missed it as he chased after the scent that led through the car park and out onto the main road. As it was he heard the steady beat of Stiles’ heart hiding behind the end of the motel rooms, he came to an abrupt stop, trying to figure out if his senses were mistaken, Stiles’ scent led one way, his heartbeat was another, he had to know for sure. He turned and headed towards the back of the block of rooms, trying to stay as stealthy as possible, he wasn’t sure what gave him away but he registered that Stiles’ heartbeat picked up and then he was running, like his life depended on it. It did. The second Derek got hold of him he was going to kill him. Why the hell did Stiles run away from them? Away from him? 

He broke into a run the second he rounded the corner, forcing himself to go as fast as possible and close the distance between them. He could hear the pack a few meters behind him, the humans trailing a little behind them, but he’d be damned if he let anyone else get their hands on Stiles first. He finally caught sight of him and pushed himself to go as fast as he could, leaping at Stiles’ back and shifting at the same time so that when he connected solidly with Stiles and brought him to the ground in one movement it was as a human. 

“What the hell are you doing Stiles!? Where are you going to run to? There’s nowhere around here!” Derek snarled, pinning the struggling boy to the ground. 

“Get off me.” Stiles said, his words mumbled by the fact his face was pressed into the dirt. 

“Not a chance.” Derek snarled, glad when the rest of the pack caught up because if Stiles did decide to attack him again Derek wasn’t sure he’d be able to beat him. Finally, when Stiles stopped struggling, Derek relaxed his grip, wincing when he saw the bruises already forming on Stiles’ bare arms. He climbed off Stiles, getting to his feet as Stiles rolled onto his back and glared at Derek with outright hatred. 

“Stiles,” Noah whispered in concern, drawing Stiles’ gaze to his own as he crouched down next to his son, “What’s going on? Why are you running from us?” Stiles shook his head, his jaw clenched shut firmly, refusing to say a word. 

“This is ridiculous.” Jackson snapped taking a step towards Stiles and then freezing when Stiles flinched, genuinely flinched, Stiles only scowled harder at the instinctual reaction, annoyed that his body had betrayed his fear, and Noah made a soft sound, like a pained whine at seeing his son in such a state. 

“You’re pulled your stitches.” Melissa said calmly, “We’ll need to get that cleaned up again.” She gestured to where the bandage on his stomach had come away and fresh blood was spilling from the wound. Derek felt guilty at that, he’d tackled Stiles to the ground, it was his fault. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles said stiffly. 

“Enough, enough with the ‘you are fine’ crap, you’re obviously not fine and none of us expect you to be.” Erica shouted, “But running away from us? From your family? From your pack? I don’t understand it Stiles, what were you thinking?” Stiles clambered to his feet, wincing slightly as the stitches pulled tightly, he wouldn’t meet their eyes, instead he just stared at the floor, what could he possibly say to them that they would understand?

“Erica’s right.” Boyd said quietly, “You’re pack Stiles, we look out for each other.”

“Why did you run?” Scott asked, “I mean, you tried to run from us?” 

“It doesn’t make any sense.” Peter added, “You won’t be able to take the final ring out by yourself, not in the state you’re in, you need to stick with us, at least until you’re healed anyway. Running away doesn’t do any good.”

“I wasn’t running away.” Stiles said through gritted teeth, “I just needed some air, Derek,” His name sounded like venom on Stiles’ tongue, “decided to get in my way, that’s all.” 

“So your logic was to fight him? And then run from the rest of us? Try and trick the wolves with your scent? Which, how did you manage by the way?” Danny rambled. 

“I know how to fight.” Stiles grumbled. 

“None of us are doubting that.” Lydia admitted, “We’re just trying to figure out why you attacked Derek?” 

“Other than the obvious reasons of him being a prick?” Stiles scoffed, the pack stared at him in confusion and Derek tried not to feel hurt by that, Stiles had every right to hate him, he was the one who’d left him alone for over two years. 

“The real reason would be good too.” Allison said and Stiles sighed heavily, knowing that they weren’t going to let him move until he’d answered at least some of their questions. 

“Because he was right.” He muttered.

“What? Who was right?” Isaac asked in confusion. 

“Because I woke up and the first thing I needed was a weapon, because I held a knife and my dad was at the other end of it and if he decided to move, for a few seconds, I wasn’t sure what I would have done. Because the guy this morning was right, I am a monster. I shouldn’t be around you.” Stiles confessed. 

“I think you were confused when you woke up?” Peter suggested, “I think it took a few minutes for you to remember what had happened the past few days, am I right?” Stiles paused and then eventually nodded, “I bet I’m also right in thinking that if my nephew hadn’t decided to burst into the room you probably would have dropped the knife long before it came to blows, but because you were confused and unsure and an Alpha werewolf barged into your room and demanded you submit, you reacted in the only way you know how, the way that meant you survived the past few years.” 

“No, by the time Derek came in, I, I knew what was going on.” Stiles mumbled. 

“Yeah, maybe you did, but, you also spent over two years in what can only be described as Hell with only yourself to watch your back. I’m not trying to make excuses for you, but, if you’d have been given a little time, rather than a confrontational Alpha, I’m willing to bet that you would have seen sense and dropped the knife.” Peter continued and Derek blushed as the obvious chastisement of his actions. 

“I’m sorry Stiles.” Derek offered, “I thought your dad and Melissa were in danger, but I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did and I’m sorry.” Stiles nodded, biting his bottom lip in a way that reminded Derek so much of the old him. 

“I guess I shouldn’t have reacted that way either, so I’m sorry too.” Stiles mumbled uncomfortably. 

“And, as for what that guy said, fuck him, he doesn’t know who you really are, we do. You’re not a monster.” Jackson added, “You’ve survived, I don’t think I would have done.”

“None of us would have.” Kira smiled softly, Stiles found himself wondering how Scott got lucky to have such a kind girlfriend, surely karma should have made sure he ended up alone? “Besides, we’ve seen real monsters at work, you’re nothing like them.” Stiles nodded, showing he’d listened to her words but it wasn’t obvious if he’d believed them.

“Good, I’m glad we’ve got that sorted out.” Cora said, “Can we get the bleeding stopped and go back to bed?” 

Stiles was still on edge as they headed back to the room, he needed some space, he needed some time to himself just to process all this, he’d barely had a moment to think since he’d first seen his dad at the auction. It didn’t look like he’d get a chance to now, everyone was shooting glances at him like they expected him to attempt to run again any second, he sighed, rolled his eyes and headed into the room, moving to the bathroom and wiping at the blood that had run down from his opened wound. 

“Huh.” He said without meaning to, noticing that the tattoos had moved, that was weird. 

“Everything okay?” His dad called from the other side of the door and Stiles ignored him, splashing some cold water on his face, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck before moving back into the other room. “What happened?”

“Tattoos moved.” Stiles said simply, not wanting to go into it until he understood what it meant. 

“What do you mean they moved!?” Scott squeaked and Stiles looked at him like he’d lost his mind. 

“They went straight down before.” Derek supplied, gesturing to Stiles’ bare torso, “They’ve moved, I guess because they’re magic?” Stiles looked at him in surprise, as if he couldn’t believe that Derek had noticed that, Derek was pretty sure he didn’t blush, but he knew the wolves would all be able to hear the rapid beating of his heart. “I’m going to go get some proper clothes.” He added quickly, dashing out of the room and entering his room where Braeden was still sleeping peacefully in the bed, how she’d slept through all of that he had no idea, he threw on a pair of jeans and then a t-shirt, before shaking her gently awake.

“What’s going on?” Braeden muttered sleepily.

“The pack is in the other room, we’re all sleeping in there.” 

“What happened?” She asked, sitting up straight. 

“Stiles woke up, we fought, he ran off. He tore some stitches, Melissa is just patching him up.” Derek admitted truthfully. 

“You fought? Why?” 

“Long story. Come on.” He said, dragging her out of the bed and letting her get dressed before they went back into the other room. Melissa had finished repairing the damaged stitches by now and the rest of the pack were muttering quietly amongst themselves. 

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Isaac asked Stiles, who had apparently not even winced during the whole procedure if Jackson’s mumbles were correct. Stiles just shrugged, moving to the small bag of clothes he had and pulling out another t-shirt. 

“I imagine you have quite high pain thresholds.” Peter remarked and Stiles’ eyebrows rose in surprise, “You suffered severe injuries in the ring but you never faltered, you ignored the pain because it was more important to take down your opponents and survive. Therefore, I imagine you’re more than capable of handling a few stitches.” 

Stiles nodded slowly, he agreed with what Peter was saying but he couldn’t understand the motivation behind the words, Peter had to want something. Maybe he had changed since he’d been brought back to life, Stiles was incredibly curious about how that came about, but, right now his priority had to be on taking out the final ring.


	13. Chapter 13

After the first night of sleeping in the corner of the room his dad had insisted that he at least had to have some sheets, Stiles didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was more than used to sleeping wherever he could lay his head. He didn’t really sleep anyway, his body was too used to the state of constant vigilance that he’d been living with for the past two years, knowing that the moment he let his guard down he’d get a set of claws digging into his stomach or tearing through his thigh or shoulder. 

When Melissa had repaired his stitches, she’d made him sit on the bed for a few minutes and it had been one of the most amazing experiences, not as good as the shower, but, still, it was so comfortable that Stiles could have just lay down and gone to sleep right then and there. He’s stood up as soon as he was allowed, knowing it wasn’t safe to relax like that, that relaxing meant death. 

The pack started to pile onto the floor, dragging whatever blankets and sheets they’d acquired in their own rooms until they were all sprawled across the floor and each other, Stiles knew there were at least three of them already snoring. He had to sleep with his back to a wall, it was the only thing that allowed him to at least get a little sleep, he settled into the nearest corner, making sure that his swords were close by if there was an attack, Erica and Boyd both rolled their eyes and came closer, lying down on either side of him, Erica throwing a blanket over his knees before reaching out to grasp Boyd’s arm on his other side and slipped into sleep. 

Stiles slept on and off for the next few hours, never going deep enough to lose the awareness of his surroundings, hearing the shuffle of moving bodies as they shifted around in their sleep, listening to the even breaths that indicated sleep, tensing slightly the few times he heard movement from the world outside the room, a car going past, a room door slamming a few doors down, the murmur of voices walking past their room. None of them were threatening though so as soon as he’d assessed they weren’t a threat he dozed again for a little while.

He thought instead about the fourth ring, how he wanted to tear it down and make sure that nobody ever thought of doing something so despicable again, that if they did, he would destroy it and them. He needed to stop anyone else suffering like he had. He needed to do something drastic, make sure that nobody thought of doing it again at any point in the future. Maybe he could cast something that would stop gladiators from ever being a thing again? He lost himself in that thought for a while, giving up when Danny got to his feet and flashed Stiles a brief smile on his way to the bathroom, the rest of the pack beginning to groggily wake up. 

Stiles decided that it would be a good idea to take another shower and then get ready to go, he knew he hadn’t managed to clean all the blood off from yesterday yet. As soon as the bathroom was free he went in and shut the door behind him, snapping the lock in place before pulling his shorts down and his t-shirt off, leaving him stood in his boxers, he couldn’t take them off, he felt too exposed naked in the locked bathroom. 

He leant on the edge of the sink, glancing up at his reflection in the mirror, his eyes were darker, harder than he remembered, the planes of his face were sharper, he tried smiling and it looked more like a grimace, he sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair and trying to ignore the burning of his magic under his skin. His eyes trailed downwards to the scars that covered his chest, he’d seen the others looking at them, practically smell the pity rolling off them whenever they looked at him, he didn’t like that, didn’t want to see his dad upset like that, once this was all over, once he’d destroyed the rings, he was going to make a conscious effort to cover his scars up. 

He sighed heavily again, there had just been too much happen in such a short space of time, this time last week he was convinced that he would end up spending the rest of his most likely very short life in that hell hole. He had the plan to shut off the electricity to the collars, but he had no idea how he was going to get it done, he needed someone on the outside to shut off the electricity. His back-up plan had been to try and remove the collar without anyone noticing, but he didn’t see how that was going to work, he’d been running over a hundred different plans in his mind and then suddenly his dad had been there. Everything since then had happened so quickly that there were still moments when he believed that this was some kind of dream, that any second, he’d wake up and be back there. 

He pressed his knuckles hard against the rim of the sink, trying to use the pressure to convince himself that this was all real. It had to be real. He wouldn’t survive if it wasn’t, he wasn’t strong enough to be back there again. He didn’t expect the tap to burst off the top of the sink and hit the ceiling so hard it stuck there while the flood of water sprayed all over him. 

“Shit!” He cursed, jumping backwards towards the shower and cursing when the shower head exploded off the wall and started flying around. 

“Stiles!?” His dads voice called from the other side of the door sounding worried, “What’s going on!?” Stiles was trying to grab hold of the shower head, at least try and get it under control when the door burst open, the lock snapping off easily and his dad and Derek ran into the room. “Stiles?” Noah asked in confusion, turning to look at Stiles who had now caught hold of the shower head, although it was still fighting to get out of his grip. 

Noah took in the situation with a faint look of amusement in his eyes, like he was trying not to laugh, before he rushed to the sink and started applying pressure to the top of the sink, when he looked around for the taps Stiles pointed upwards and when his dad saw the tap still wedged in the ceiling he suddenly started to laugh, unable to stop himself, a full-bodied laugh that made him look years younger. 

Stiles was so astonished that he released his grip on the shower head and suddenly it was off again, flying around and smacking Derek in the face. Stiles couldn’t help the little snort he gave at that, Derek had been staring at him, staring at the scars and Stiles had felt a little uncomfortable, thinking he really wanted to put a shirt on, except the shower head had obviously snapped him out of his thoughts and Derek had blinked a few times before moving to help Noah. 

“What the hell is going on!?” Jackson shouted from the doorway and Stiles shrugged, he didn’t know, although, he paused, his skin was tingling, in the way it did sometimes when he used magic. 

“Fuck.” He muttered, ignoring the looks from the others in the room and closed his eyes to concentrate, to forget about all the distractions in the room and just stop whatever it was his magic was doing. 

It took him two minutes by which point Jackson, his dad and Derek were all dripping wet in their attempt to stop the flow of water, the jets of water stopped, they didn’t dwindle slowly and finally stop, they just went from blasting the bathroom to nothing, there was no in between. His dad, Jackson and Derek all turned to look at him, wiping the droplets of water from their faces and blinking at him stupidly.

“Oops?” Stiles shrugged sheepishly. 

“I’m going to take a wild guess you didn’t mean to do that?” Erica said from somewhere outside of the doors and Stiles blushed, running a hand across the back of his neck. 

“You’re losing control of it?” Peter asked sounding worried. 

“Um, maybe? I don’t know?” Stiles sighed, “It’s not like I know what I’m doing, you know?” 

“Okay, so no more magic. As soon as we get home we’ll get Deaton to teach you basic control.” Noah muttered sounding worried. Stiles fought back an eyeroll at those words, as if Deaton would ever help them with anything, unless maybe the guy had changed over the past few years, but, Stiles didn’t find that very likely. 

He dried himself off quickly and headed back into the main room, throwing on a t-shirt and dragging a pair of jeans up his damp legs, putting his knives in their holders and starting to prepare himself. 

“Stiles, relax, we’re not going anywhere just yet, you need a few days to heal up before we make a move.” Isaac said and Stiles arched an eyebrow at him.

“I’m fine.” 

“You got shot yesterday, you can’t fight like that, it’s important to heal before we decide to take on what’s probably going to be an entire army.” Lydia insisted.

“I said I’m fine.” Stiles growled, checking all his knives were in place. 

“You can’t fight like that.” Ethan said softly, “You’d be lucky to take down anyone before you collapsed.”

“Pretty sure I took down your Alpha last night.” Stiles replied sarcastically and Derek tried not to wince at his wording, that Derek wasn’t Stiles’ Alpha. He supposed he deserved that, he would have to earn back that right. 

“Look, Stiles, there’s nothing wrong with taking a few days to rest up, we can make a plan, take our time.” Noah offered.

“You can.” Stiles replied, grabbing a jacket and throwing it on to cover his blades, it didn’t cover the thigh holster he was wearing but he didn’t really care about that, before he picked up the bag of his meagre belongings. “I’m not waiting around.” 

“Would you just wait a second!?” Scott said, grabbing Stiles’ arm as he moved towards the door, Stiles glared at the hand on his arm and Scott backed off, releasing him and holding his hands up in surrender. “It’ll take a couple of days to get there, you can heal in the car, rest up, and then we can reassess when we get closer. Does that sound fair?” He looked around at the pack who all nodded, his gaze coming to rest on Stiles who sighed heavily before he nodded. “Okay, great, let’s get packed and then we’ll get on the way.”

Stiles waited out by the cars, unable to wait in that tiny room with all those people and not feel on edge, he just, he needed time, he needed to get this finished and then he could think about what the hell he was supposed to do next, if he actually wanted to go home where he would no doubt see Scott and Derek at least on a semi regular basis, after all, the town wasn’t that small that he could avoid them forever, but, they’d betrayed him, they’d left him with those hunters. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get over the hurt he felt at that, the pain and rage that it caused. He couldn’t think about any of that now, he needed to focus on the last ring and then he could think about the future, if he made it through the next few days. 

They pulled into a motel car park in the early hours of the morning two days later, Braeden had confirmed that the last ring wasn’t far from here, that they could walk to it. The journey had been longer than any of them had expected, Stiles had barely spoken a word since he’d first climbed into the car with Erica, Boyd, Cora and Aiden. Derek tried not to take the snub to heart, Stiles was still adjusting to being free, he had every right to be mad at Derek, he was the one who hadn’t even looked for him. 

They had decided it would be best to get a few hours’ sleep before they decided to take any action, Cora had text to say that she didn’t think Stiles was going to wait, that he was getting more and more agitated the closer they got and that they’d already experienced a few magical blips in the car on the way here. Peter had called the other cars and told them to expect Stiles to be on edge and to not let him out of their sight. 

They arrived ten minutes before Cora, Erica, Boyd, Aiden and Stiles, long enough to book a few rooms and stretch out from the long journey.

Noah had been expecting it, had known that Stiles would be raring to go the instant they got there, Cora had warned them, and yet it was so much worse than he’d prepared himself for. Stiles had practically jumped out of the car the second it stopped, the swords in his hands were sparking with electricity and there was an odd glow to his skin that Noah had never noticed before, he could smell the power and magic rolling off Stiles with such intensity that it didn’t really surprise him that the wolves that had been in the car with him seemed to be equally as agitated and eager to fight as Stiles. 

“Stiles? What’s going on?” Noah asked, taking in the way that Stiles was almost vibrating in place, fidgeting in a way that reminded him do much of the old Stiles but so different at the same time. 

“Stiles,” Melissa whispered, resting the back of her hand against his forehead, “You’re burning up. We need to get you cooled down. Someone go get me a bucket of ice and some damp towels.” 

“No.” Stiles growled, his eyes flashing a bright gold that made everyone still in their tracks.

“What’s happening?” Lydia asked sounding worried, Peter was the one to take the step forward towards Stiles, assessing him carefully, the way his limbs were trembling, sweat forming at the back of his neck, his eyes flashing between their normal amber and the bright gold they’d witnessed only moments before, the swords that looked on the verge of bursting into flames. 

“The magic is too much.” Peter whispered. “It’s burning you from the inside out.” Peter looked around before grabbing Stiles by the elbow and steering him around the back of the motel, Stiles’ legs stumbling for a moment before he caught himself and walked side by side with Peter. 

“What does that mean?” Noah demanded, his voice flooded with concern. Peter didn’t answer him, instead still walking Stiles forwards, cursing about the lack of cover that this town provided, how he couldn’t wait to get home and back to the preserve where there were trees and green and life. Stiles just stumbled forwards, never saying a word as the smell of magic seemed to get even more potent, although, Derek could smell pain now too and something worse, something like, burning. It made him feel sick. 

“Stiles, listen to me very carefully.” Peter snapped, bringing them to a stop and turning to face Stiles, the rest of the pack waiting behind him, looking just as anxious as Derek felt. “I’m correct in thinking that right now it feels like there’s millions of ants crawling around under your skin and that it feels like they’re on fire, burning you, enough that it makes you want to scream. Right?” Stiles nodded.

“What does it mean!?” Noah demanded more insistently this time.

“It means that Stiles is filled with magic, and that magic needs to find an outlet, otherwise it’s going to explode. So, Stiles, you need to let it out. Forget what we said before about no magic until you have it under control, if you don’t use some of it now it’s going to kill you. Understand?” Peter said sounding more panicked than Noah had ever heard him before.

“I don’t…” Stiles panted, doing his best to catch his breath as his skin glowed even brighter, “I don’t know how.” Peter snarled and his claws came out, Derek growled at him in warning but Peter rolled his eyes. 

“Fight then, you know how to do that, don’t you? Fight me.” Peter snapped. 

“I can’t.” Stiles whined, pulling his shoes off and curling his toes against the ground.

“Can’t!? I find that hard to believe.” Peter scoffed. 

“I mean, I don’t know how to fight and not hurt you.” Stiles explained, his voice cracking slightly with pain. Peter’s only response was to swipe his claws at Stiles, the only reason he didn’t catch the skin was because Stiles had leaned backwards, bringing his swords up instinctually to deflect Peter’s claws. 

“Fight me.” Peter snarled, his eyes flashing blue as he swiped at Stiles again. Stiles moved back out of his reach again, deflecting Peter’s claws with ease. “Stiles, you need to burn off the energy, one way or another, if you can’t use magic you need to fight, now, fight me.” Peter roared again, this time charging at Stiles and doing his best to tackle him, Stiles danced out of his reach, looking at Peter with something like concern in his gaze.

“I’m not going to…” He was interrupted by Peter leaping forwards and almost landing on Stiles snarling viciously, Stiles dropped his swords and for a moment Derek assumed it was an accident except then Stiles was launching forwards, punching Peter hard in the jaw, hard enough that Peter stumbled a few steps backwards. That was when Derek realised why Stiles had dropped his swords, it was his attempt to not cause Peter any serious damage, it was surprisingly considerate of him. 

Within moments Peter was launching his own punch and Stiles blocked it with his forearm, the arm guards he still wore dinting slightly under the force of Peter’s hit. The ease in which Stiles took Peter down without using any weapons probably should have made Derek worry about how easily he could kill the entire pack if he decided to, instead it just made his wolf almost howl in joy, at how capable and strong their Stiles was. He shook his head to clear that thought from his mind. Stiles was not his, not theirs, they were not together, there was nothing between them, right now Stiles didn’t even consider Derek his Alpha. 

Peter hit the ground hard less than thirty seconds later, Stiles was standing above him and hadn’t even broken a sweat, his skin was still glowing although Derek thought it might have dulled, just the slightest bit. 

Erica stepped forwards, flashing a grin at Stiles before she launched herself at him, almost landing a punch to his chest before Stiles shifted his weight slightly and Erica slipped and fell to the ground, Stiles gave a short laugh before Peter was back on his feet again and charging at him. 

In the end, it took Peter, Erica, Boyd, Ethan, Aiden, Cora, Isaac and Jackson to fight Stiles for long enough that the glow started to fade from his skin. Allison had stepped forward at one point and Chris had put an arm across her chest to hold her in place, stating that the only reason none of them had serious injuries was because they were wolves who healed, she wouldn’t be so lucky. Derek couldn’t help but agree with Chris, Stiles wasn’t using any weapons, and maybe he was holding back slightly but still, every hit he landed, and that was every single hit, were hard and to the point, they sent the wolves stumbling backwards, sometimes even crashing to the floor. At some point, Stiles lost himself in the movements and instincts of the fight, letting go of any reservations he had and just fighting as he always had done, his hits getting even more brutal, the wolves taking longer to get back to their feet between each hit, as if he didn’t see people he recognised but only enemies to be taken down.

Derek had wanted to join in, had wanted to go against Stiles, see just how capable he was against an Alpha, but Noah had shaken his head minutely at both Derek and Scott, it was obvious to all of them that Stiles was having issues with the two of them, that he probably wouldn’t respond very well to either of them attacking him. Derek knew Noah was right, so instead, they stood on the side lines, along with the humans of the group and watched until Stiles’ skin had stopped glowing and yet the fight kept going. 

After half an hour, in which time most of his wolves had suffered some form of broken bones that were since healing, Stiles finally pinned Jackson to the ground. The others were still recovering from the other hits he’d given them a few moments before and Derek was going to have to get Stiles to teach him how to fight because Stiles, a human, had not only held out against eight werewolves for the better part of an hour, but he’d also beaten them all. If he had been using weapons Derek knew he could have taken them all out within a few minutes.

“Just so you’re aware now, you’re going to be training us when we get home, no arguments.” Allison grinned and Stiles raised an eyebrow at her in confusion.

“Because you’re a badass Stiles.” Lydia sighed, rolling her eyes, as if Stiles didn’t understand how incredible he was. “And we all need the training if you can take eight of us down without weapons. Hence, you’re going to train us.” Stiles shook his head violently, reaching down to pick up his swords and putting them back in the sheaths on his back. 

“How about we talk about this later?” Melissa compromised, “Right now, it’s more important that Stiles isn’t about to spontaneously combust, which you’re not, right?” Stiles gave her a small half smile before he shook his head. 

“Great, something Peter suggested actually worked for a change.” Danny laughed and Peter held a hand to his chest in mock shock while the rest of the pack laughed. 

“So, until you get control of the magic, we just need to make sure you burn off energy, that doesn’t sound too bad.” Kira smiled.

“You can fight him next time then.” Jackson said, wincing as he got to his feet and Stiles looked at him in concern. “I guess you did warn us you don’t know how to hold back.” 

“Thank god you didn’t have weapons.” Boyd complained and Stiles blushed guiltily. 

“Sorry.” Stiles mumbled.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for.” Peter admonished, “You fought well, you should be proud of that. Besides, we need our asses kicked from time to time, otherwise we get complacent.” 

“How do you feel now?” Melissa asked, already brushing a hand across Stiles’ forehead, it was still hot, but more from actual exertion than magic burning through him. 

“I’m okay.” Stiles confirmed, taking a steadying breath, his fingers tracing over the knives at his waistband, that they were all in place, obviously a comfort to him as he relaxed slightly. 

“Alright, so, we go grab a couple of hours sleep and then we go take out the ring?” Derek suggested, the entire pack nodded, Stiles looked a little unsure before he met Derek’s gaze and then nodded firmly. “Is there anything else we need to know about the ring? I know we’ve discussed the layout and everything, but, anything else that we should know about?” Stiles paused for a few moments before finally nodding.

“Most of the gladiators are there by choice, they aren’t prisoners, they’re also brutal, almost every fight is a fight to the death, only the odd one ever ends with two gladiators leaving the ring alive. Don’t turn your back on them and don’t trust them.” Stiles informed them and Derek nodded in acknowledgement. 

They split into several rooms, they’d been on the road for a couple of days and the thought of a proper bed was heavenly, not to mention that these rooms were supposed to be slightly more soundproofed than the ones that they had stayed in previously. Peter had given him no end of shit about the argument that Derek had with Braeden the other night, apparently, he didn’t think it was a good idea that Derek made things official with her as his mate, Derek couldn’t help but think he was right. Derek and Braeden ended up with Noah and Melissa and Stiles somehow ended up in a room with Peter and Chris, Peter offered to share one of the beds with Chris so Stiles could have the other to himself, Stiles had rolled his eyes before dragging one of the blankets to the corner of the room and settling down against the walls. 

That was another thing that Derek would have to talk to him about, but now wasn’t the time, right now so long as Stiles got some kind of rest before the fight later today he wasn’t going to argue about where he slept. 

Derek crawled into the bed next to Braeden and was asleep within seconds, his exhaustion overwhelming him. 

Stiles woke up when the door to the motel room was promptly kicked in, he was on his feet in seconds, his swords drawn and ready to defend himself even as Peter and Chris fumbled slightly getting out of their beds, both going for the guns that they’d put into the bags they’d dropped at the side of the beds. 

The small room was already filled with bodies, Stiles recognised some of their faces, gladiators from the ring, they’d come for them. One of them was already swinging a knife at Chris and Stiles knew that the hunter wasn’t going to be able to deflect it in time, Stiles gave up his footing on sure ground, gave up his position of having his back against two walls, instead leaping onto the bed and stopping the knife with his sword just inches from Chris’ face. 

Peter was snarling as he faced off against two werewolves, Stiles was distracted, throwing knives that hit the gladiators about to attack Peter, they both landed solidly in their skulls and Stiles felt a hint of satisfaction as they hit the ground hard. 

His legs were pulled out from under him and he fell off the bed, landing hard on the floor, he scrambled back to his feet, he twisted slightly so that the punch that was supposed to hit him in the chest hit his arm instead. 

“Stiles!” Chris called out in panic and Stiles turned to glance at him, blinking slightly as his vision wavered, he glanced down at his arm, saw the syringe still stuck in there and turned back to look at the gladiator in front of him with disgust. 

He blocked a few more punches, his swords growing heavier by the second as he did his best to keep his eyes open, protecting Peter and Chris as well as he could. It felt like hours but was probably only about a minute before the swords dropped from his numb fingers, he raised his arms, trying to block the blows as best he could but knowing it was useless.

His knees buckled suddenly and a fist connected solidly with his jaw before everything went black around him. 

Chris had finally managed to get his hands on his gun before it was immediately knocked out of his hands by another of the gladiators, he wasn’t sure how many of them were in here, it was just a mass of bodies now, Peter was backed into the opposite corner near the window, doing his best to keep his attackers at bay, Stiles was down on the ground, his breathing seemed even so Chris thought he was unconscious not dead, prayed that he was unconscious not dead, he’d never felt so useless in his life. He’d seen the knife coming towards his face and knew there was nothing he could do, that he was going to die, except then Stiles’ sword was in front of his face, ringing with the force of the impact, but still, there wasn’t a knife buried in his face so he could only count it as a win. 

He knew they were going to lose, knew they needed help, it was only when the nearest gladiator picked Stiles up off the floor and swung him over his shoulder with ease that Chris wondered where the hell the rest of the pack were, how they hadn’t heard any of this, he briefly remembered that these rooms had better soundproofing than the places they’d stayed previously. 

“Derek!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping it was enough, hoping that it would wake their Alpha and the rest of their pack. 

“Help!” Peter shouted from the opposite corner and Chris knew he’d figured out the soundproofing too. “Stiles!” Peter screeched when he saw Stiles slung over one of the men’s shoulders, the man who was currently heading towards the door while the others still seemed intent on killing Peter and Chris. “Derek! Wake up!” Peter shouted again desperately, trying to get towards Stiles and being forced backwards time after time as he protected himself against the attack. 

“Your Alpha isn’t coming for you scum.” One of the other werewolves smirked before a second slid through Peter’s defences and grabbed hold of him, efficiently making Peter lose his footing and then get thrown out of the window into the car park. 

Derek woke up to the sound of shattering glass, he’d been dreaming, about Peter and Chris shouting for him for some reason, he wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean but right now he was more worried about what that shattering glass meant. 

He heard a low groan and then the sound of Chris’ voice, crystal clear and shouting for help. He launched himself out of the bed, grabbing his gun from the bedside table and rushing out of the door, preparing himself for whatever he was about to see. He imagined Stiles might have had another nightmare and had woken up, pulling a knife as he had done previously, he cursed, knowing he should have never left Stiles alone with Peter and Chris. 

What he didn’t expect as he tore out of the room was to see Peter lying on the ground, evidently having been thrown through the window and for a stream of people to run from the room, several cars already screeching out of the car park. 

“Peter!” Derek rushed to him, checking him over for serious injuries, Peter batted his hand away and pushed himself back to his feet just as Chris appeared from the room, clutching a hand tightly across his arm where blood was running freely. 

“Stiles!” Noah called in panic, rushing out of their room and towards Chris who was still stood in the doorway to the second bedroom, Chris shook his head.

“We tried to stop them.” Chris mumbled.

“Stop them? What are you talking about?” Noah shouted, pushing past Chris and seeing the complete destruction of the room.

“Stiles,” Peter said, looking up and meeting Derek’s gaze steadily, “They took him.” 

The rest of the pack were stumbling out of their own rooms now, finally waking up at the sound of raised voices and looking at the small group with worry, Allison rushed to her dad’s side, checking his injury quickly before reassuring him that it was only a flesh wound. 

“What happened?” Isaac asked.

“Gladiators I think,” Peter explained, “They broke into our room, they were going to kill us, Stiles stopped them, I, I didn’t see what happened, but he went down and they took him.” 

“Drugged him.” Chris winced as Melissa tied a bandage tightly around his arm, “He had protected me, stopped a guy who was about to put a knife in my face, someone pulled his legs out from under him and he fell, they hit him with a syringe of some kind, some kind of drug I think. He fought for a bit more and then he collapsed, but he was still breathing, I don’t think it was supposed to kill him, just subdue him.” 

“We have to go after them.” Scott said, already rushing to his room and throwing some clothes on, the others copying his actions so that within a few minutes they were all dressed, weapons in their rightful places and getting into the cars. 

“They’ll have taken him to the ring.” Braeden muttered and Derek followed her directions quickly, god knows what they might have already done to Stiles. 

Braeden was wrong, Stiles wasn’t there. There were instead plenty of gladiators, waiting for them to turn up, grins on their faces as the door clanged shut heavily behind them, Derek knew he’d led his pack into a trap, knew that there was a good chance some of them were going to get hurt because of his choices, but, Stiles was missing and they needed to find him. 

He roared angrily, allowing the shift to come over him, knowing the rest of his pack were following him with their own shifts, the non-shifters pulling out their own guns and pointing them straight at the gladiators. 

“I’ll spell this out for you.” Allison said coldly, “Give us Stiles now and we’ll let you live, or don’t and we’ll kill every last one of you.” 

“Even if you knew how to use that thing princess, you don’t have the gut…” The gladiator fell silent when Allison shot him in the head, his body dropping to the ground.

“Anyone else?” She asked, ignoring the way that Scott was looking at her in shock, it wasn’t the first time they’d had to kill to survive, hell, it probably wasn’t the last, and for Stiles, she’d shoot them all. The rest of the gladiators seemed to take this as a signal to attack, suddenly they were charging straight for them, some of them shifting but none of them managing to go full wolf, coming together in a clash of limbs and snarls. 

Derek was terrified of what could be happening to Stiles right now and that fear gave him purpose, these men were standing between him and Stiles, they had to die. His teeth dug deep into flesh time and time again, ripping and tearing as gunshots went off all around him, as Lydia’s scream knocked gladiator’s over, as his pack worked together as a team to take out anyone who dared to take one of their own. 

Derek knew the moment that the gladiators realised they were going to lose, when the room began to smell of panic and fear, it didn’t slow him down though, instead he ran forwards, pouncing on his prey as he tore their throats out, not caring that he was closer to going feral than he ever had been before, his only thought was that Stiles was in danger and he had to get to him.

“Derek!” He heard a shout, a voice cutting through his thoughts, turning to look at where Danny was standing, bodies littered the ground around him, his pack had shifted back to human and were looking at him with worry, he realised then that he’d probably lost a bit of time, too caught up with the need to protect Stiles, to find Stiles. His wolf growled lowly as the body he was on top of twitched slightly, he turned back, tearing the man’s throat out before shifting back to human and walking back to the rest of his pack. It was then that he noticed the gladiator on the ground in the middle of the pack, his hands up in surrender and pure terror wafting off him as Derek approached. 

“Where is he?” Derek snarled, his voice barely human. 

“The master took him.” The man said desperately. 

“Where.” Derek growled.

“I don’t know, I swear.” The man whimpered.

“How long ago did they leave?” Scott snapped.

“A minute or two before you arrived.” He replied, “I think the master has a house, maybe they went there.” 

“Where?” Peter snarled.

“I, I don’t know, not far from here.” 

“You’ve been there before?” Lydia asked and the man nodded quickly. 

“You’ll take us there.” Noah growled, no question in his voice, he needed to find his son and now. They had not just got him back to lose him again so soon, to ever lose him again. 

“Yes, yes I will.” The man nodded eagerly as Ethan dragged him to his feet and towards the door. 

Stiles woke up slowly, groggily, his jaw ached, he could feel the beat of his pulse in his head, the discomfort of the electric collar cutting into his neck, he’d begun to believe that he’d be free of it forever, what a stupid thought, he couldn’t feel his magic under his skin any longer and he knew he would have to rely on his fighting skills to get him out of this. He blinked a few times, taking in the high ceiling above him, the sun streaming in from a nearby window, the soft bed underneath him. It was that last thought that jolted him upright, only for him to fall backwards again when the chains holding him in place cut into his skin and he let out a small groan. 

“Good, you’re awake.” A voice came from the doorway and Stiles fought back a shiver at that voice, he knew that voice, the master. 

He was a large man, tall and broad, more of a mountain than a man, fulfilling the typical werewolf stereotype, Stiles had always had a smart retort for him whenever he’d been in his presence previously, even though the main arena had broken him of that, at least for a little while, he wasn’t about to let himself down now. There was no room for any weakness in front of him. 

“Congratulations on your observational skills.” Stiles retorted sarcastically, he had a moment to prepare himself as the master stormed forwards from the doorway and smacked him hard across the face, hard enough to make his head ring. 

“You want to know what else I have observed?” The master taunted, trailing a clawed finger across his bare stomach and Stiles felt the muscles bunch under the contact, he wasn’t sure why he was shirtless but a quick glance down saw that he was stripped down to his boxers, chains at his wrists and ankles, another two on either side of his collar and a final one that went across the width of the bed across his hips, cutting in tight enough that there were already red welts against his skin. He wasn’t moving anywhere anytime soon. 

“That you are too old for me?” Stiles replied, bracing himself for the next hit, letting out a short pant of breath when the master knocked all the air out of his lungs. 

“It seems you’ve become attached to that pack of yours, and within a few days as well, how very impressive.” 

“I don’t know what the fuck…” Stiles started, shutting up when the master punched him hard in the face again, he was almost certain his jaw was broken now or, at the very least, badly bruised. 

“Your tattoos.” The master continued, his fingers tracing a pattern on Stiles’ stomach. Stiles looked down at what the hell he was on about, straining as the collar pulled tightly on his throat, staring in disbelief at the wolf that was, he swore to god, prowling across the waistband of his boxers. He was lost for words, he couldn’t even process what he was seeing. Gone were the spirals that usually adorned his side, instead there was a singular wolf that prowled across his skin as if it belonged there, its blue eyes flashing dangerously at the master when the man continued brushing his fingers over it. Stiles knew that the wolf represented his father, he just wished that it could do something useful right now rather than just prowl across his skin, even if he could almost feel the growls from the wolf vibrating against his skin. 

“You care about them, at least one of them, it’ll be a delight to see how much it pains you once they die.” 

“Fuck you.” Stiles snarled, gritting his teeth through the pain in his jaw, still staring at the tattoo on his stomach. 

“I’d very much like to actually, I’ve been wanting to for years, but, Marcus was so insistent that he would be the first, I heard you ended up being sold at the auction. How was it? Did you enjoy yourself? Or did you beg and scream?” The master asked, his fingers trailing lower, pulling the waistband of Stiles’ boxers lower. 

Stiles tensed pulling against the chains on his wrists, not caring that they cut in deep enough to draw blood. 

“Relax kid, this’ll go a lot smoother if you don’t fight me. Not that I really mind either way, I don’t care, I just want you, you have no idea how badly I want you, how long I’ve wanted you for.” The master cooed, moving his hands so that both of his palms now rested against Stiles’ chest, the edges of his fingers brushing against the claw marks that ran down his chest, the wolf moved upwards, snapping and snarling at where the master’s hands touched him. It didn’t seem to deter the man though, instead he only grinned, pulling Stiles’ boxers down to his thighs before he climbed off the bed and moved to the bottom corners, tightening the chains so that they pulled Stiles’ legs further apart, Stiles was doing his best not to panic but he couldn’t help it, he was terrified. 

The master moved back towards him, running his claws slowly up his leg, hard enough to draw blood, Stiles tensed unable to do anything other than watch as his claws ran up his leg until they caught on the material of his boxers. 

“What? No sarcastic comment?” The master teased and Stiles glared at him, hating how vulnerable and exposed he felt. His mind had gone blank, first time for everything he guessed. When an alarm sounded from the next room the master turned away from him in surprise, his claws cutting a little deeper into his skin as the man tensed. 

“Scared?” Stiles asked, hoping it sounded smug and gloating and not as pathetic as he felt, he wanted to believe that the alarm meant that someone was coming, he didn’t even care if it was someone coming to kill him, just, anything that would buy him some time, anything that would give him a chance to get himself out of this.

The master rolled his eyes at whatever the alarm meant, grabbed a piece of cloth from nearby and shoved it into Stiles’ mouth before taping over it. 

“Stay.” The master laughed, patting Stiles’ cheek condescendingly before turning and leaving the room. Stiles pulled harder on the chains, hoping that the blood would slick the chains enough that he could pull himself free. 

Derek screeched to a stop outside a large house, it had a brick wall that ran around the perimeter and a high gate that was designed to keep out intruders. He didn’t care, Stiles was in there, he had to get to him, he was out of the car before the rest of them had arrived, already striding towards the gate, not caring about a plan, not caring about anything other than getting to Stiles. 

He hadn’t bothered wiping the blood from his hands or face, he could feel it drying on his skin now but he didn’t care, later he would, but right now the only relevant thought running through his mind was to get Stiles back. 

His claws tore through the electronic lock on the gate, shoving it open and storming towards the house, the rest of the pack at his heels, all their claws extended, eyes flashing as guards ran towards them. 

Derek roared as he charged, not caring as a bullet tore through his side, thankfully it wasn’t laced with wolfsbane and he was already healing, just continuing on his path, not breaking his stride, taking out the nearest guard, smashing his head into the ground and moving forwards, trusting that the pack were behind him, knowing that Stiles was ahead of them, that they had to get to him. 

Although the guards were strong and trained they stood no chance against Derek’s rage, Stiles was in danger, was in trouble, they had to get to him, nothing would stand in his way, he refused to allow anything to stand in his way, he would not lose Stiles again, not now, not ever. 

Derek kicked the front door open, his rage only increasing when he caught the scent of fresh blood, he stormed through the house, determined to find Stiles. His path was blocked by a werewolf, another Alpha, he looked enraged, outraged that someone had invaded his home, his den. 

“Where is he?” Derek snarled, barely able to control his wolf, it was howling out of control, Stiles was here somewhere and Derek wouldn’t rest until he found him. 

“He’s mine.” The other Alpha replied, his own teeth flashing dangerously. 

“He’s ours.” Noah shouted, barely controlling himself. They could smell the scent of Stiles’ blood on the man’s claws, it was driving them all insane. 

He closed his eyes for a moment, sucked in a deep breath, heard the rabbit fast beating of Stiles’ heart in one of the rooms upstairs and felt himself relax slightly, Stiles was still alive. They just needed to take care of this Alpha first. 

Derek shifted, allowing his wolf to charge to the front, meeting the other Alpha in the middle of the room, feeling claws dig into his side as his own claws caught in the flesh of the other man’s skin. The fight was brutal and Derek felt himself tiring but he had to win, he had to beat him, he had to get to Stiles and this man was standing in the way. After almost ten minutes he gained the upper hand, he managed to pin the older man and tore his throat out in one swift movement, he didn’t stop, he had to get to Stiles, not dwell on the fact that he’d just killed another Alpha, he could barely keep up with the number of people he had killed since finding out Stiles was alive. He couldn’t find it in himself to care though, he’d do it all over again for Stiles, hell, he’d do it all over again a thousand times if it meant that Stiles was alive and safe. 

He was back on his feet in a moment, rushing towards the stairs now that his path was clear, hearing Noah was right behind him, already calling out for Stiles but getting no reply. 

Stiles could hear the sound of a fight below, he didn’t know what the hell was going on but he knew he had to get out of here before the fight ended. He tugged hard on the chains again, fighting back the groan of pain when it cut deeper and his wrist started to bleed freely, at least whatever drug they’d given him hadn’t seemed to wear off completely yet, he was sure that when it was out of his system completely he was going to be in a lot of pain. He glanced down again, looking at the blood that was staining the sheets under his leg, evidently the master’s claws had cut him deeper than he’d originally thought. 

He felt the chain around his wrist loosen slightly now it was slick with blood and he gave it another hard tug, letting out another grunt of pain as his hand started to slide free. Just because he had one hand free didn’t mean he was in the clear, he reached down, pulling his boxers up slightly so that he was at least covered up before reaching to try and undo the collar around his neck. When he realised that there was no way it was going to come undone without help he looked around for what he could use to break free, his eyes landing on a heavy looking lamp on the bedside table. He stretched as far as he could, the chains that were still in place holding him back, his fingertips just brushing the edge of the lamp, he stretched a little more, ignoring the way his body was screaming in pain and felt his fingers grip the lampshade pulling it towards him. 

He took a moment to gather himself, ignoring the pain in his body, before he pulled the lamp onto the bed, it was heavier than he’d been expecting but that was a good thing in his eyes. He pulled off the lampshade and removed the bulb and then looked at the long pillar of the lamp, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to shove it between the collar and his skin, but he had to give it a try. A couple of minutes later and several cuts to his throat, he realised it wasn’t going to work and he didn’t know how much time he had before the master would be coming back.

He worked the lamp between the chain on one side of his collar and the bed post, twisting it violently and feeling immense satisfaction when the wooden bedpost began to splinter. Whatever was happening downstairs was over, he knew that, could hear feet pounding on the staircase, someone was coming for him, to kill him or to rape him, he wasn’t sure which, he had to get himself free. 

He twisted the lamp again, the wood cracking enough that he could pull the chain free of the bed, giving him at least a little more movement than he’d had previously, he knew he didn’t have time to get any more chains undone, the footsteps were getting closer, he had to prepare himself to fight. He gripped the lamp as tightly as he could, ready to swing it at anyone who dared come near him.

“Stiles!” He heard his dad’s voice coming from outside the door and he stilled in his tracks just as the door to the room burst open and Derek and his dad both burst through, glancing around for any threats before their eyes landed on Stiles. “Jesus!” Noah cried, rushing towards him and tearing the tape from his mouth as Stiles spat out the piece of cloth that the master had shoved into his mouth. “Are you okay? Stiles, are you alright?” 

“You came?” Stiles muttered in shock, he had never thought, hadn’t imagined, couldn’t believe that they’d come for him, he’d just assumed that, well, he hadn’t known what they would do, but coming for him wouldn’t have been anywhere on their list. He looked at his dad in complete surprise, he looked like he’d been through hell in the past few hours, there was drying blood on his hands and around his mouth and he looked like he’d aged ten years, Stiles couldn’t help but feel responsible for that. 

“Of course we came.” Noah replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, already moving to undo the other chains as the rest of the pack piled through the door and took a look at his predicament. 

“Another minute and you’d have been out of here yourself.” Aiden mused and Stiles shrugged, glancing down at himself and seeing that the tattoo of the wolf had disappeared and instead they were just back to the normal spirals. 

“…iles?” Stiles blinked and looked at Melissa who was standing a few inches away, looking at the damage to his leg. 

“Sorry.” He muttered, trying to remember what she’d said.

“Don’t worry, I was just asking you if you know what they injected you with?” Melissa said softly and Stiles shook his head, he didn’t know, but he did still feel kind of fuzzy and his limbs felt really heavy, it felt more like blood loss than drugs though, although he couldn’t be sure. “Isaac, Erica, Jackson, can you go look around see if you can find anything that looks like sedatives?” The three of them disappeared and Stiles let out a little sigh of relief when his dad finished undoing the chains and he could move more freely. He sat up, tugging at the collar around his throat, wishing he had a knife on him so he could cut through the damn thing already.

“Here.” Derek said, offering a claw, “Let me help with that.” Stiles eyed the claw unsurely, he wasn’t sure he wanted Derek’s claws anywhere near his throat, he didn’t trust him, but, he’d come too, obviously killed people to get to him if the amount of blood covering him was anything to go by. Stiles wasn’t sure what to do with that information, he hadn’t come before and that was when the hunters had given him an open invitation, why had Derek come now? Stiles guessed it was because the others had seen him getting kidnapped, that they wouldn’t keep it a secret from his dad, that Derek had no choice but to come and rescue him. That was the only thing that made sense.

Stiles spotted his clothes in the corner of the room and stood up, ignoring the wave of pain that ran up his whole body as he tried to put his weight through his leg, ignoring the way Melissa hovered nearby ready to catch him if he fell, or the way everyone seemed to be looking at him like he was weak. He gritted his teeth and moved forward, grabbing his clothes, pulling out a knife and cutting through the collar quickly, ignoring the way that the entire pack were waiting in silence behind him. 

He threw his t-shirt on, he didn’t need any of them staring at his scars, he was already feeling pretty crappy about them, he glanced once at his jeans, not sure he could put them on without falling over. Melissa was at his side in an instant, leading him back towards the bed where she could get a proper look at his leg. He considered trying to use his magic to heal himself but before he could even think of how to try and get it to work this time all the lights in the room flicked on and burned brightly until the glass shattered. Stiles rolled his eyes and decided that using magic wasn’t an option right now, wishing he knew why he seemed to have control of it when he’d gone up against the rings but seemingly had no control at any other point. He’d have to figure it out at some point, see if he could find someone who would be willing to teach him, he knew his dad and Derek had mentioned Deaton but Stiles wasn’t sure the man would be willing to help him. 

“We found this.” Jackson returned, brandishing a small bottle in front of him and holding it out to Melissa before glancing at Derek and then frowning at Stiles. Stiles risked a glance at Derek, unsure why the man looked upset almost, he couldn’t think about that now, Derek was probably having some emotional crisis of some kind or another, it was kind of weird that Stiles could see emotions on his face though. Before all of this, back when Stiles was in Beacon Hills, he could never tell if Derek was happy or sad or angry or anything, he just had one facial expression. Back then Stiles had spent hours analysing Derek’s features, trying to gleam any information he could from the most minor of movements, but that was back then, back when Stiles had thought that they could have had something, could have been friends, maybe even moving towards something more, except Derek obviously hadn’t felt that way, because he abandoned him, left him with the hunters. 

“What is it?” Scott asked nervously as Melissa read the bottle and paled slightly before bending down in front of Stiles and shining a torch in his eyes, he didn’t mean to flinch away from her but it was so bright and his head ached and he just wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep. 

“Stiles, how do you feel?” Melissa quizzed and Stiles shrugged. 

“Tired.” He mumbled eventually. 

“On a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in?” 

“Two.” Stiles replied, ignoring the way his jaw throbbed, he really didn’t hurt that much, he could almost forget about his leg, so long as he didn’t try to walk on it, could almost forget about his jaw if he didn’t have to speak. He figured that was a good thing but Melissa didn’t seem to think so, instead she was grabbing his hand and telling him to squeeze her hand as hard as he could. He did and she smiled a little, he guessed that was a good thing. 

“What is it?” Lydia asked sounding worried. 

“It’s a strong sedative, but it’s been known to have serious side-effects.” Melissa explained, prodding and poking at Stiles as he did his best not to bat her hand away.

“What kind of side effects?” Derek growled. 

“Serious enough that it was totally recalled about six months ago, serious enough that nobody knew how it even got approved in the first place.” Melissa replied, Derek growled, glaring at her until she rolled her eyes and sighed, “It was common that patients who were sedated didn’t wake up, those that did slipped into comas within twelve hours of injection, even after a small dose, and eventually died, those who didn’t die or slip into a coma still suffered from paralysis, severe pain, joint and muscle pain, no control over bodily functions, strokes, dizziness, nausea, internal bleeding, nerve damage meaning they were unable to feel pain, a few even developed cancer.” 

“So chances are I’m going to be fine then?” Stiles tried to joke, doing his best to keep his eyes open and Melissa smiled fondly but her eyes were still wide and filled with concern. 

“Chances are that most of the drug has already left your system, you woke up from the original sedation which is more than a lot of people did, you’ve lost a lot of blood and although that’s bad, it’s probably done you a favour.” She tried to reassure him. “What we need to do is get you replenished with untainted blood.” She glanced around the room before her eyes landed on Danny, “You’re the same blood type.” Stiles wasn’t going to ask how Melissa knew that, “Peter, go to the car and grab my med bag. Stiles, I need you to keep your eyes open, can you do that for me?” 

Stiles nodded but it felt like a lot of hard work. Melissa got him to lie back down on the bed and Stiles wanted to complain because he didn’t want to stay here any longer, he wanted to get the hell out of this house, out of this bed. 

“Alright sweetie, listen to me, I can’t give you anything to counter the effects, there’s too many variables and it could only make things worse.” Melissa began, “I need you to stay awake, you can’t fall asleep, you have to stay with me, got it?” She said sounding tense and Stiles nodded again. “Okay, good, Danny, sit on the other side of him and get comfortable, we might be here a while, Allison prep the equipment for the transfusion, Erica, I need you to keep pressure on his leg, we need to stop the bleeding but I need to get him fresh blood first, the rest of you, go downstairs and I’ll call you when I’m done.” Melissa ordered, the rest of the pack left but Noah and Derek stayed nearby, keeping out of the way but refusing to leave the room, Melissa wasn’t going to argue with them. 

“Bet you’re getting real sick of this?” Stiles mumbled, hoping that if he kept talking he might be able to stay awake. 

“Of patching you up? Yes.” Melissa replied offering Danny a small smile as she pushed a needle into his skin, “But, I’ll do it a thousand times because it means you’re still alive.” She continued. “Although, I’d prefer if you didn’t go getting yourself beaten up and shot.” 

“I swear, when we get home I’ll lay off the getting kidnapped shit.” Stiles tried to joke although he knew it came across more morbid than that if the way everyone in the vicinity seemed to flinch at his words. 

“I think that’s a good idea, my heart can’t take any more kidnappings.” Noah replied and Stiles smiled at him sadly. 

“Sorry.” He muttered.

“Not your fault.” Noah replied, “It’s not.” He insisted, “Chris said you saved his life.” He added, hoping to change the subject slightly but Stiles only shrugged in reply, “He said you stopped a man from stabbing him while Chris was fumbling for his gun.”

“Thought hunters were supposed to be more prepared than that.” Stiles said, not even wincing when Melissa started to sew the claw marks in his leg together. 

“Yeah, well, he owes you one, we all do.” Erica said from the bed. “Plus, you saved me and Aiden in the arena, we owe you for that too.”

“I expect bacon, lots of bacon.” Stiles mumbled, oddly relaxed as Melissa bandaged his wrists and examined the shallow cuts on his neck before deciding they weren’t that serious, there was a large bruise forming on his jaw but after a few gentle prods and pokes Melissa seemed fairly confident that it wasn’t broken, only badly bruised.

“How are you feeling Danny?” She asked a few minutes later and Danny shrugged.

“Alright I guess, better than Stiles anyway.” Danny teased and Stiles knocked their shoulders together with a small smile on his lips. 

“That’s not exactly hard.” Stiles replied lightly, deciding that the bed was really comfortable and maybe he could just close his eyes for a few minutes and it wouldn’t do any harm. 

“Stiles!” Someone was shaking him and Stiles blinked at them blearily as his dad’s face came slowly into focus. “You fell asleep, you can’t fall asleep, okay? Not yet.” 

“Sorry.” Stiles mumbled, shifting himself slightly and wincing when his whole body ached in pain. 

“Are you in pain?” Melissa said sounding equally worried and relieved. 

“Nothing too bad.” Stiles said, “But it hurts, which is good thing I guess?” 

“Peter said you have high pain thresholds.” Melissa conceded, “I would guess that what would be bad for us is tolerable for you.” Stiles didn’t comment, he wasn’t sure, he didn’t think he was particularly good at handling pain, but, he’d experienced a lot during the past few years, he’d had to push through, to ignore it and just keep moving, it was the only way he stayed alive. 

“What happened with the master?” He asked, he had to assume that the guy was dead, that would be the only reason they were staying here until he felt better. But, if anyone found out, any of the gladiators knew that they were here, they’d be in more danger, Stiles needed to pull himself together so he could take care of the ring and then get the hell out of here. 

“He’s dead.” Erica smiled and Stiles nodded. 

“We should leave, before anyone comes looking.” He said, going to sit up so he could remove the needle where Danny’s blood was still pumping into him, glancing at Danny who looked too pale for Stiles’ liking. He pulled the needle out before anyone could stop him, then shifted and pulled the one out of Danny, immediately pressing down on the small cut in Danny’s arm to keep the pressure on and holding his hand there. 

Melissa frowned at him but didn’t say anything, covering the small cut with a plaster before turning to Stiles and doing the same to him. 

“Next time, leave the removal to me.” She scolded him and Stiles nodded, already shifting to the edge of the bed to get to his feet, until Danny’s hand reached out and pressed against his arm. 

“You need rest. The drug could still be having an effect on you.”

“I’m fine.” Stiles replied, getting to his feet and gritting his teeth with determination when his leg decided to buckle. “We need to get to the ring, before they decide to come here.” There was a moment of silence before Derek cleared his throat.

“You’re expecting to fight when you can barely stand?” Derek scoffed and Stiles glared at him. 

“I can still kick your ass.” Stiles snarled. “Want to test it?” Derek caught the glimpse of a knife between Stiles’ fingers and shook his head in despair, he hadn’t even noticed Stiles picking a knife up. 

“You don’t need to fight, we took care of the ring before we came here.” Derek explained and Stiles stared at him in shock, trying to process what Derek had just said, because it sounded like they’d already destroyed the ring, but, that couldn’t be right, could it?

“You destroyed the ring?” He asked, ignoring the way his voice cracked slightly. 

“We thought you were there.” Derek replied casually, as if it was no big deal that not only had they come for him but that they’d taken out the master and a ring of trained fighters in order to get to him. It sounded like he cared about Stiles. Stiles shook his head to clear that thought from his mind. He’d believed that Derek had cared once before, he’d believed that he’d come for him, he’d been wrong, he wasn’t going to let himself make the same mistake again. 

“We should still leave.” Stiles said coldly, there was still the chance that someone else could come looking and Stiles wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay on his feet. Derek studied him for a minute before seeming to acknowledge that Stiles wasn’t going to back down before he nodded. 

“Erica, gather the others, Allison can you help Danny downstairs?” Derek instructed, Danny looked ready to argue but he wobbled slightly when he stood and Stiles felt flooded with guilt, Danny had weakened himself helping Stiles. Instead Danny leaned on Allison and they left the room with Erica so that Stiles was left alone with Melissa, Derek and his dad. 

“You can’t tear the stitches which means keeping your weight off your leg, I know you’re going to say you can manage, but if you split the stitches it’s going to make more of a mess, so, until it’s healed, you’re going to accept the help.” Melissa said seriously. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles said, the thought of having to rely on anyone else making him tense up, if he couldn’t manage himself then he died, that was the way things worked, nobody helped each other. 

“Come on.” Noah sighed, rolling his eyes and scooping Stiles up into his arms before he could protest. Stiles glared at him but remained silent, his whole body tense as if he expected his dad to drop him at any moment. “I have werewolf strength now you know, I know you’re more muscular than you were, but I’m not about to drop you.” He said, hoping to lighten the mood but Stiles still looked worried. 

Derek could smell the unease coming from Stiles, the way his whole body was tense just from being carried down the stairs, like he couldn’t wait to be let go, like he didn’t even trust his own dad. He watched as the pack gathered around at the foot of the stairs and Derek led them back out to the cars, he wasn’t sure what had happened to the gladiator that he’d left in the car, he assumed that the guy had run away, Derek wouldn’t have blamed him. 

Noah slid with Stiles into the back seat of Derek’s car, Peter got into the passenger seat and Melissa sat on the other side of Noah, Derek could see that Braeden looked a bit annoyed but he decided that he’d deal with it later, when they could have a proper chance to talk. 

“I think it’s time to head home son. The rings are all destroyed. It’s time to leave, get back to Beacon Hills, does that sound okay?” Noah asked and Derek tensed, waiting to see what Stiles would say, instead he just nodded and then turned his head towards the window and stared out of it, fiddling with a knife in his hands as if that would somehow calm him. 

“Braeden said that the guy would meet us with your passport a few miles from the border.” Peter commented, “As soon as we get you home we’ll ensure that the proper documentation is filed to officially bring you back from the dead, but, until we do that, your current passport is no good.” Stiles just nodded in understanding, “We had to do it for Cora too, we’d spent so long thinking she was dead, but, now we know the process I’m sure we can have everything completed and filed in a matter of days.” Peter continued.

“There’s so much to tell you.” Noah smiled, gripping Melissa’s hand tightly in his own. “I mean, you’ve missed so much, when we first started dated I kept thinking how much you would have loved it, how excited you would have been for us. I forgot sometimes, that you were, gone. I’d turn around to tell you something that happened that day or some little detail from a case, and then, I’d remember.” Stiles hated the grief in his father’s voice, he reached over and patted his father’s leg gently, wishing he didn’t have to be sat in the car with Derek. 

“Death doesn’t happen to you, it happens to all those around you, those who are left standing when you’re gone.” He whispered quietly and Noah nodded, tears forming in his eyes as he pulled Stiles into a hug, those same words had been muttered many times over the years, mainly whenever his mother had been mentioned.

“If I had known, god, Stiles, if I’d had any idea…”

“I know.” Stiles reassured him, he knew his dad would have done anything if he’d known, but he hadn’t, only Scott and Derek and possibly Allison had known that he had been alive, he couldn’t blame his dad for being kept in the dark. “Anyway, how did you get turned?” He asked, hoping to change the subject.


	14. Chapter 14

They drove for the next few hours, the convoy of cars behind them as Noah, Melissa and Peter filled Stiles in on everything that had happened since he’d been taken. Derek wanted to chip in, tell him certain things from his point of view, like what had happened with Jennifer, how Stiles’ voice had been the one to bring him back to his senses, but he knew Stiles wouldn’t want to hear that, Stiles could barely look at him and when he did it was with pure hatred. 

Eventually they pulled up at a motel for the night, they hoped to reach the border by lunchtime the following day and then Beacon Hills the following day. Derek couldn’t wait to get home, be in his own territory again, he couldn’t wait to run through the preserve, to feel safe again, that maybe some things could start to make sense to him, like how the hell Stiles was alive and not in a box in the ground. 

Jackson and Aiden went to get some food and came back half an hour later with various cartons of food, handing Stiles some soup and bread that he actually managed to finish this time. Derek knew it would take time, that eventually Stiles would be back to eating how he used to, but a few days wasn’t enough to get rid of years’ worth of abuse. 

Noah insisted that Stiles sleep on the bed, that he get a proper night’s rest, Stiles refused, glared at his father until the man backed down, Stiles would not let himself relax like that, not if he needed to defend himself. Instead, he hobbled over to the nearest corner, taking a blanket with him and then thanking Kira when she passed him his swords, then he spent the next half hour cleaning and sharpening them. Derek didn’t think they needed to be any sharper but Stiles obviously needed it as some kind of process, so he wasn’t going to argue. 

Nobody said it officially, but it was obvious that the entire pack wanted to stay together tonight, after what had happened last night Derek could understand that feeling, he lay down in front of the door, so that if anyone came in they’d have to deal with him first. Braeden lay down next to him, the heat of her body brushing against his made him relax slightly, but he couldn’t deny the fact that he wished it was Stiles instead. He had to end this, he couldn’t make her his mate, even if nothing ever happened with Stiles, he cared about Braeden, she mattered to him, but, he didn’t love her, and dragging this on any longer would only hurt her even more. He had to end things. 

Stiles woke up and winced at his body as it throbbed, when he looked in the mirror his jaw was a mess of black and purple, the smaller cuts on his throat had scabbed over, the ones on his wrist itching but thankfully not bleeding through the bandages. 

Stiles made sure that he was in a car with Lydia, Jackson, Danny and Ethan the next day, making sure that he wasn’t near Derek or Scott, he couldn’t relax around them, not knowing that they’d betrayed him. The journey was mostly quiet but it didn’t feel overly awkward, they stopped a few miles from the border and Stiles saw Braeden talking to another man, handing over a small bag and receiving a passport in return. He didn’t trust her either, but, since the pack said she was a friend, that she’d helped them in the past, he wasn’t going to kill her, not yet at least. 

They drove over the border without any issues and a couple of hours later they stopped at a diner for lunch, Ethan helping Stiles out of the car and then Jackson coming on his other side so that he could lean his weight on both of them and wouldn’t have to walk, he could see the other’s hovering nervously nearby and fought the urge to roll his eyes. At least he’d managed to get a pair of jeans on today, the set of knives at his waist felt more secure in his jeans than the shorts and Stiles was sure that he was going to wear jeans for the rest of his life. The downside was that the heavy material pressed against his injury, although, considering the fact that he seemed to escape the whole drugging incident without experiencing any of the side effects he was going to take the fact that he was in pain as a good thing. 

Somehow, he ended up next to Scott in the diner with Boyd on the other side of him, Scott seemed to realise that Stiles was in pain and he reached out to touch a hand to his arm, Stiles flinched away from him, almost knocking Boyd off the other end of the seat and staring at Scott like his hand was about to burn him. Scott spent the rest of their break looking like someone had just killed his favourite puppy, staring down at his plate of food with such a broken expression that it was almost enough for Stiles to feel sorry for him, almost. Until Stiles reminded himself of what Scott had done, of what he and Derek had done, or not done as the case were. 

The afternoon was spent in the car with Peter, Isaac, Allison and Chris, Stiles would have preferred not to have been with Allison, but he guessed it wasn’t really her fault, instead he just turned his head slightly so he could stare at the landscapes speeding past the window and ignore the other passengers in the car. 

He still wasn’t sure this was the right move, that coming back to Beacon Hills was going to be good for him. He didn’t want to spend any more time around Scott and Derek than necessary and Beacon Hills was still kind of small, he’d end up bumping into them at some point or another, and what about school? If his maths was right then Stiles should be due to graduate in a few short months and he didn’t know what the hell he was going to do about it, going back to school seemed like such a fantasy, something so impossible that it had to be a dream. His dad had chatted about it in the car yesterday, about getting Stiles re-enrolled, that he was sure the teachers would be understanding, Stiles hadn’t been so sure, and not because of the teachers, but because of the whole situation. 

He wasn’t an idiot, he realised how messed up he was, he knew he didn’t act like a normal eighteen-year-old, that he shouldn’t carry weapons, should sleep in an actual bed, be able to eat more than a few mouthfuls of food before he felt sick, not be ready to defend himself against an attack every second of the day. But, knowing how messed up he was didn’t change the fact that he was messed up and throwing himself back into school, it didn’t seem like the best idea, but, if that was what his dad wanted, then, Stiles would find a way to cope.

There seemed to be some unspoken understanding that they would take a shift change and continue driving through the night rather than find another motel to sleep in, almost as if, now that they were nearly home, none of them wanted to stay away any longer than necessary. 

Stiles figured they must be getting close by the time the sun was beginning to rise, he took in the sight of the trees on either side of the road, he hadn’t seen a forest like this in so long, thick and deep and old and powerful, it made the magic under his skin hum happily. He tried to ignore the heat of it under his skin, knowing that he was going to have to burn off some energy sooner rather than later. He glanced around the rest of the car, Isaac, Allison and Chris were all asleep and Peter seemed to be focused more on the road in front of him than Stiles. 

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the heat under his skin, trying to push it away, force it down, do something to dispel it, instead he felt a white-hot pain surge up his leg and he gasped at the burn it left behind, Peter braking slightly and glancing back at Stiles. 

“What’s happening? Are you okay?” Peter asked, he’d been able to smell the magic building in the car, it was putting him on edge but there was nothing he could do about it, he just had to hope that Stiles held it together until they got home, it was only another hour or so and they’d be walking through the front door. When Stiles didn’t respond, Peter brought the car to a complete stop and turned in his seat to look at Stiles. “Stiles, what’s going on? Are you alright?” He didn’t want to wake the others up but Isaac must have heard some of the worry in his voice because he was suddenly blinking awake and looking at Peter and Stiles with worry. 

“I need to…” Stiles panted as his skin started to burn, grabbing the door handle and throwing it open, almost falling out of the car as he tried to keep himself upright, Peter jumping out of the driver’s door and resting a hand against Stiles’ skin, flinching when it felt like he was burning up. 

He knew the cars ahead of them had realised something was wrong, coming to a stop and already there were werewolves piling out of the cars and turning to look at Peter and Stiles. 

“Alright,” Peter muttered, trying not to panic, Stiles wasn’t in any shape to fight to drain the energy, they had to find another way to burn off the energy. 

“What’s going on?” Derek asked, arriving at Peter’s side only a moment later, looking at Stiles with concern. 

“He can’t fight. We need to drain his energy some other way.” Peter said quickly. 

“What do you suggest?” Noah queried.

“Well, there’s other ways to exhaust someone.” Peter shifted uncomfortably. 

“Like what?” Scott asked and Peter looked like he couldn’t believe the idiocy of the people he had to deal with. 

“Sex Scott.” Stiles growled and Scott at least had the decency to blush. “Which, just so we’re all on the same page, so not happening.” 

“What do you suggest? Other than spontaneous combustion?” Peter snapped back angrily. 

“Not that, that’s not happening.” Stiles panted, wincing when another bolt of white hot pain shot up his leg and he nearly lost his balance. He bent down, pulling his shoes off, hoping that having his bare feet against the ground might help in some way, it was weird to feel leaves beneath his feet, to feel the cool ground instead of the usual hot sand, it felt, well, it felt good, incredible actually, like he was finally home. 

“We need to do something.” Scott said sounding panicked, Stiles was ignoring him though, instead he stretched slightly, if he ignored the burning under his skin he could almost believe that his leg felt better, like, a lot better, almost perfect actually. He unbuckled his jeans and started to pull them down, ignoring the gasp of terror from Scott, “Didn’t we just, you don’t want, did you change your mind?” 

“Shut up.” Stiles snarled, his eyes flashing gold as the power built within him, he dropped his jeans to the ground and started to undo the bandage that was wrapped around his leg. 

“Stiles, wait, you could tear something…” Melissa began, her voice trailing off when Stiles revealed his bare leg, seeing that the deep gashes were now nothing more than faint lines on his skin. “You healed…” She muttered in shock. “How?” Stiles shrugged, he wasn’t sure, but, somehow, his leg was better, he wasn’t going to complain about that, even his face and wrist felt better and he was sure if he looked in a mirror he’d see that the bruise would have gone down considerably.

However, instead of wanting to fight, knowing that he could probably beat most of them without much effort, he had a different urge, an urge to run and feel this ground beneath his feet, feel the trees around him, full of life. He pulled off the rest of his bandage, seeing that at the bottom of his leg, where the claw marks hadn’t been as deep, had completely healed and he didn’t bother to hide his grin. He spun on his heel and darted into the trees, not caring that he was running through the woods in just a t-shirt and his boxers, ignoring the shouts of the others behind him, or the sound of feet running behind him, instead he ran, ran with everything he had, feeling the crunch of leaves and twigs under his feet and yet none of them seemed to hurt him. He felt like he was vibrating, like the power inside him could do anything if he just tried, he pushed himself harder, leaping over logs that blocked his path, laughing with joy at the feeling inside him, his magic wasn’t trying to hurt him, wasn’t even burning him any longer, it was just, celebrating, just like he was, he was home. 

Derek chased after Stiles the moment he’d broken out into a sprint, catching up with him was harder than he thought, he could hear the rest of the wolves following after him while the humans waited near the cars, looking worried. Derek didn’t have eyes for them though, his only thoughts were on Stiles, on the way his skin was practically glowing gold as he ran, the way his movements were graceful as he leaped over logs that he could have just as easily run underneath, Stiles had power, so much power that it should probably scare Derek, it didn’t. Stiles looked happy, relaxed, joyful even, it made Derek grin even when he was still worried about the magic inside Stiles, that it could be about to explode. 

He instinctually knew that if they kept in this direction they’d cross into their own territory before too long, Derek wanted to keep running, wanted to run through the woods like this with Stiles, because it felt so damn right it hurt. He looked across at the rest of his pack, most of whom had already shifted before they’d started after Stiles and Derek knew he wanted to shift too, wanted to run as his wolf through the preserve until they reached their own territory. 

He came to a stop, waving the others on, knowing that Stiles wasn’t stopping for anyone, calling Braeden and saying that they were going to run back to the house, asking if she and the others would mind driving and meeting them there. He could tell she wasn’t happy about it but she agreed and Derek hung up, shifting into his wolf quickly before chasing to catch up with the others. 

When he caught up with the others, Stiles somehow almost leading the pack, although Noah and Isaac were running on either side of him, Derek grinned, he couldn’t even put into words how right this felt, he just wished the rest of the pack were here, that the humans were running with them too. He howled, long and loud, making sure the humans driving along the road would hear them too, smiling as the rest of the pack joined in and then, when Stiles threw back his head and howled as well, Derek felt something swell in his chest, he loved him, god he loved him so much. 

After a few miles, Stiles’ skin began to lose its glow but he kept running, his feet so light on the ground that it looked like he was almost flying, they still had another ten miles to go before they reached the pack boundary, then another ten to the house, maybe he’d made a mistake saying they were all going to run the entire way. He was half considering shifting back to make Stiles turn towards the road, that they could meet the humans on the twisting, winding road instead. Except, Stiles was still running just as fast as he had been before, still seeming just as graceful and in control, Derek couldn’t wait to paint this memory too. 

Derek had fully expected Stiles to need a break before they reached the pack boundary, but, he could sense it coming up ahead and Stiles was still moving just as easily as he had been when he first started, even if his skin wasn’t glowing anymore and he was sweating heavily, his breathing was still even and he was moving with such purpose and determination that Derek didn’t want to interrupt him or distract him in any way. 

Stiles crossed through the boundary and stumbled slightly, rubbing at his chest for a moment as his dad turned to look at him in worry. 

“Don’t worry, just, something weird.” Stiles replied, ignoring the odd feeling like he’d just run through a cold shower, that didn’t exactly put any of them at ease, instead Stiles just started running again, heading again towards the house, Derek wanted to ask how he knew, how he knew which direction to run, how he could possibly not only keep up with werewolves but maintain that pace for such a long distance, he also wasn’t sure that he would want to know the answer, even if Stiles did decide to tell him. 

The house came into view and Derek smiled, more relaxed than he had been since Kate had kidnapped him, not only because they were home, but because Stiles was with them. Stiles had stumbled to a stop at the sight of the house in front of him, his eyes going comically wide and his mouth hanging open, Derek guessed he’d imagined that the house would still be the burned-out husk that he remembered. 

“We did it up about eighteen months ago.” Erica grinned and Stiles nodded. “Come on, I’ll show you around. I’m sure Chris and Peter won’t mind sharing so you can have a room to yourself.” Stiles’ gaze darted across to his father, his eyes going wide with something like panic. 

“I, um, well, Melissa and I decided to move in together, and, being close to Derek helped, with, the shift, there was plenty of space, so, erm, I sold the house, and we moved in here, Melissa, Scott and I.” Noah explained, wincing at the way that Stiles smelled like hurt and disbelief. “I, I thought you were dead Stiles, I just, I couldn’t bear to be in that house any longer. I’m sorry.” 

Stiles nodded, but his body still radiated tension, his fingers brushing the band of knives at his back, as if he was preparing for an attack, it made Derek grit his teeth, because, although Stiles was back with them, he wasn’t the same, probably wouldn’t ever be the same and that was all Derek’s fault, he should have known Stiles was alive, should have looked for him. 

The humans of the pack pulled up in the drive a few minutes later, Lydia studying Stiles for a few minutes before handing him his jeans and he blushed slightly. 

“Next time you want to go running, make sure you have appropriate clothing.” She scolded and Stiles fought back a grin. He wasn’t happy about being here, about staying in the same house as Scott and Derek, but, he’d have to manage, he wasn’t going to leave his dad, so he’d have to find some way to manage until he could find a way to leave without breaking his dad’s heart. He liked Lydia though, liked the no nonsense approach she had. She had never betrayed him, although, in all honesty, she’d barely known who he was before he disappeared, maybe if she did get a proper chance to know him, she’d throw him away too. 

Erica showed him around the house, he could hear the others moving around the house, going to their own rooms, no doubt getting showers, cleaning themselves up after the long trip. Chris had agreed to share with Peter on the nights that he stayed at the house, although he didn’t stay that often so it wouldn’t be too bad. It meant that Stiles got to have the room that Chris had been sleeping in, Erica explaining that the rooms were soundproofed to give people some privacy, but that downstairs was a free for all. 

Stiles just stared out of the large bay window in Chris’ room, looking at the trees that stretched for as far as the eye could see, it was actually kind of beautiful. He couldn’t believe he was back, that he was home, it all felt like some kind of weird dream. He waited until Erica had retreated from the room, muttering about going to grab a shower, before he turned and left the room, heading through the kitchen and out of the back door towards the preserve. Braeden was the only one in the kitchen at the time and she looked at Stiles nervously before glancing around the room to make sure there was nobody else around and hurried out after him. 

Braeden followed him for about a hundred yards, Stiles knew she was there, but he didn’t know what she wanted so he was just going to wait, he knew the importance of patience now. It didn’t take long, as soon as they were out of range of the wolves hearing, Braeden cleared her throat and Stiles turned around to face her, raising an eyebrow and waiting for her to speak.

“What are you planning on doing now?” She asked, sounding nervous, good, Stiles thought viciously, she deserved to be nervous. 

“I was going for a walk.” He replied coldly. 

“I meant, you know, are you going to stay with the pack? Stay here?”

“I’m staying with my father.” Stiles snapped. 

“I live here too, with Derek, we’re going to be mate’s.” Braeden explained and Stiles tried not to roll his eyes. 

“And that matters to me why?” 

“Well, because of, of what happened.” Braeden whispered. “I just, I don’t want things to be awkward.” Stiles smiled, baring his teeth, he’d been told before that it made him look a little deranged, scary even, Stiles thought it would be good to use it now. 

“I think it’s a little late for that, don’t you think? But, tell you what, I won’t say anything about what happened, and, you stay the fuck away from me.”

“We’re going to be living together.” Braeden said, “I just, we should work this out, Derek doesn’t want things to be awkward either.” 

“Well, maybe he should have thought of that before he started dating you, but, since he has a thing for psychotic girlfriends, I’m sure he’s used to it.” Stiles retorted angrily, “So, until I find a way to leave without upsetting my dad, you can both stay the fuck away from me, you are as fucked up as each other, you belong together.” He tensed when Braeden took a step towards him and he had a knife in his hand instantly, “Or, we can do this the hard way.” 

Braeden eyed the knife uneasily before sighing, letting her hand drop and turning back towards the house, looking defeated, Stiles couldn’t deny the happiness he felt at that, she deserved to be fucking miserable. 

He waited until he was sure she had left before he put the knife away and turned his attention to the trees around him, it was peaceful, he started walking. Unfortunately, he only managed to get five minute’s peace before he could hear someone crashing through the brush nearby, obviously trying to find him. He pulled his swords out, ready to attack whatever the threat was, until Isaac suddenly burst into view and he looked at Stiles with wide eyes before his gaze shifted to the swords. 

Stiles looked behind Isaac, making sure that there was no other threat, before he slid the swords back into their sheaths and raised a questioning eyebrow at Isaac who howled loudly before turning back to Stiles.

“You weren’t in the house, Deaton turned up and he’s all worried about something, he wanted to talk to Derek, something about a threat entering the territory and Allison was going to get you from your room but then Braeden said you were out here, and, I can’t believe she fucking left you out here alone, but, we need to get back to the house now.” Isaac rambled just as the rest of the pack crashed through the bushes. 

Stiles was about to complain that he was barely half a mile from the house and surely one of them could have just sniffed him out, before Noah pulled him into a tight hug, his eyes wide with fear. 

“I thought you were in your room and then you weren’t, and, god, Stiles, I can’t lose you, I can’t, not again. Don’t wander off again. Please.” Noah sobbed onto his shoulder and Stiles rubbed his back soothingly, had his dad forgotten that Stiles was more than capable of holding his own against most threats? He wasn’t going to argue about it though, not now when his dad was almost trembling and the rest of the pack were all looking agitated and eager to get back to the house. 

Apparently, once they’d realised that Stiles was out in the preserve and not safe in the house, they’d all rushed out of the house in different directions, hoping to find him before anything happened. None of them had bothered to explain to Deaton that Stiles was alive, or where he had been, so, when they arrived back at the house a few minutes later, Deaton was standing on the front porch next to Braeden and staring at Stiles like he’d just grown a second head. 

“What’s the threat?” Derek growled, making sure that Stiles was still there by glancing across at him every couple of seconds. “Deaton!” Derek snapped, breaking Deaton out of his staring contest with Stiles. 

“Sorry, I just, I didn’t know you were alive.” He gestured to Stiles who shrugged casually.

“Join the club.” Cora replied, “You should have seen their faces when we found him.” She gestured to the original members of the pack behind her. “So, what’s the threat? Do you know what kind of creature has entered the territory?” 

“Oh, right, yes.” Deaton said, looking flustered almost, “Something crossed the territory boundary about an hour ago, they felt powerful, I think it was some kind of caster, they passed through my wards without an issue, perhaps a warlock…” Deaton trailed off as he noticed the entire pack relax. 

“I’m guessing your wards would feel like a cold shower?” Stiles asked and every eye turned to look at him. 

“Yes, how did you know…” Deaton trailed off again, looking at Stiles with suddenly round eyes. “You’re a warlock now?” 

“I don’t know?” Stiles shrugged, “I know I have magic now?” 

“Oh.” Deaton said dully, “Right, well, in that case, ignore me, you’re obviously not a threat.” He paused, “How the hell did you get magic? That much magic?” 

“Short version, I died, someone used their own magic to combine with mine and bring me back. Now any magic without an owner that is nearby gets sucked into me.” Stiles replied and Deaton was staring at him in horror before he finally closed his mouth and cleared his throat.

“Well, that’s, um, that’s good, I imagine. Anyway, I should be leaving.” 

“Wait!” Derek said quickly, “Stiles doesn’t know what he’s doing, with magic I mean, he doesn’t know how to control it properly, do you think you could train him? Teach him?” Derek almost pleaded, the last thing he wanted was for Stiles to lose complete control of his magic and blow himself up or something. Deaton paused, obviously mulling it over for a few minutes, studying and assessing Stiles, who stood still, waiting for judgement. 

“Yes, I will. Stiles, please come to the clinic in the morning, we can start training then, it is imperative that we start sooner rather than later.” Deaton said and Stiles nodded quickly, surprised that Deaton agreed to help him, he was convinced that it meant Deaton wanted something, he never did anything just from the kindness of his heart.

He spent the night curled up on the floor near the bay window in the bedroom, staring out at the stars above him and the forest in front of him, he was sure at some point this would begin to feel real, that he would begin to believe that he was actually home, that he was safe, but it didn’t feel that way yet. He couldn’t believe that he would have to live with Derek and Scott, he should have asked or something before he came back here, before he’d agreed to this. 

He slept on and off throughout the night and as soon as the sun came up he decided that he would go for a run, that he needed to try and get himself in the right headspace for what he was sure was going to be a trying day. Nobody else was moving around the house yet which he really appreciated, he didn’t want to have to talk to anybody, he’d thrown on a pair of shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt, he left his feet bare, he liked the feel of the ground underneath his feet, he knew it was odd to explain it, but, it felt right somehow. He was still wearing the row of smaller knives at the back of his shorts, he’d eventually decided to take the short swords too, it was always better to be over prepared, plus the weight of them at his back offered him some form of comfort. 

He went through the back door and just started running with no direction in mind, he didn’t feel the same adrenaline as yesterday, didn’t feel the same rush of power as he forced his body to keep moving, but, running felt good, it made him feel free in a way he hadn’t been in so long. About half an hour later he came across a small stream, he followed it for a few miles before he decided to change the direction, pulling out his swords and slashing at imaginary attackers, he needed to keep his wits about him, make sure that he was always ready for an attack. He had to keep training, it was the only thing that kept him alive all this time. 

He must have lost track of time because he heard a howl coming from the direction of the house and he rolled his eyes, they’d obviously noticed he was missing and he figured he best get back before they started a full-scale manhunt for him. He put his swords away, already starting to run back towards the house, figuring that he could probably be back there in five minutes if he really pushed himself. 

As it was he met the entire pack about a hundred yards from the house, their expressions varying from exasperation to concern to anger, Stiles ignored them all. 

“Hey.” He said, trying to diffuse any tension, Derek still growled at him, he looked super pissed and Stiles wasn’t going to even try to figure out why the Alpha was in such a grump first thing in the morning. 

“Where have you been?” Derek snarled and Stiles glared at him. 

“I’ve been out for a run, is that allowed? Or am I supposed to stay in the house until you tell me it’s okay to leave? I didn’t trade one cage for another.” Stiles snapped and Derek flinched backwards as if Stiles had physically slapped him, his face losing all colour and if Stiles didn’t know better, he’d say that Derek looked guilty. 

“Of course you can go out, whenever you like, we just expected you to be in your room, and when you weren’t, we were worried.” Isaac said, trying to break the tension. “So, good run?” Stiles nodded tightly. 

“Why do you run in your bare feet?” Jackson asked and Stiles glanced down at his feet, he’d kind of forgotten about that, “Aren’t you afraid of like standing on a branch or something?” 

“No. It’s more important to make sure that I have solid footing.” He replied tightly, knowing how ridiculous he probably sounded. 

“Well, anyway, you should go grab a shower, I need to take you down to the station to start the process of bringing you back from the dead, once we’ve got everything filed I’ll take you across to Deaton’s.” Noah explained and Stiles nodded, moving towards the back door and purposefully banging his shoulder into Derek’s on the way, he was nothing if not petty and the Alpha still looked sort of horrified about what Stiles had said earlier, so he felt even better almost knocking Derek over as he went past him. 

The drive to the station felt odd, his dad was talking about how everyone would be so excited to see him, that he hadn’t even had a chance to tell them that Stiles was alive, how they’d be so happy to see him. Stiles sat in silence the entire time, trying to ignore the ball of tension in his stomach and being thrown into a situation without any weapons, his dad had point blank refused for him to be allowed into the station with swords. 

He’d thrown on a pair of jeans and another long-sleeved t-shirt that clung a bit too tightly compared to what he used to wear, but, until he got himself sorted he’d have to take what he could get. His dad headed into the station, glancing back at Stiles on a regular basis to make sure he was still following him, Stiles wasn’t sure where else he would be going. 

It was so weird to be back, to see the shops across the road, he used to raid them for sweets on a regular basis when he’d been stuck at the station, he saw several people milling around, saw one or two of them do double takes and then start to move towards him, he hurried into the station after his dad. 

“Hey Sheriff, how was the holiday? Did you have a good time?” One of the deputies was asking, his dad nodded, pulling Stiles level with him, a proud smile on his face and all noise in the station stopped, every single pair of eyes gazing at him in astonishment. 

“Holy shit! Stiles!” Someone whispered and then suddenly there were people rushing toward him, laughing with disbelief, reaching out to hug him, Stiles did his best not to flinch at the sudden contact although he knew his dad felt it. 

“How are you alive?” “Where have you been?” “Are you okay?” “Look how different you look, so grown up.” There were so many voices asking him questions and he didn’t know how to cope with all of it, he wished he had the solid weight of his swords on his back. 

“Alright, enough, enough.” His dad shouted over the chorus of voices and eventually silence fell, the hand on Stiles’ shoulder gave him a reassuring squeeze and Stiles did his best not to look pathetically grateful for it. “We’ll explain everything,” Noah began just as the station door opened and a handful of people walked in, looking at Stiles with wide eyes, he recognised a few of them, the owner of the ice cream shop across the road, two girls that he’d gone to school with, a woman that used to live on the same street as them. 

“I was sure it was you!” The man shouted in joy, “Stiles Stilinski, in the flesh.” He gestured to Stiles and Stiles was blushing slightly at the attention. “When did you get back from the dead?” 

“Erm, until dad files the paperwork, I’m not yet.” Stiles replied, trying to keep his voice light and hoping he didn’t sound as completely terrified as he felt. He wanted his swords.

“Where have you been Stiles?” Deputy Knowles asked and Stiles glanced to his dad, they hadn’t really talked about what they were going to say about all of this. “Why didn’t you let us know you were alive? We had a funeral for you, why didn’t you get in touch with someone? Your dad was a mess for months afterwards.” Stiles winced at the thought of what his dad had suffered through and it only fuelled his rage at Scott and Derek, what they’d put everyone through by lying. 

“Stiles couldn’t get in touch.” Noah said seriously, glaring at Knowles like she’d offended him, the woman didn’t look in the least bit bothered, “When Stiles, he, there were people…” Noah began looking pained and Stiles put a hand on his shoulder, letting Noah take comfort from it as he stepped forwards towards the waiting deputies. 

“It wasn’t like I’d decided to run away.” He said quickly, “The people who took me had an underground slavery ring in Mexico, I was taken there about a month after my disappearance, when they were able to get me across the border without any issues. I’ve been there for the past couple of years, dad found me and together we managed to get me out and shut down the ring. So, it hasn’t been the most relaxing holiday for him.” He tried to joke, it fell flat. 

“A slavery ring? What? Like sex slaves?” One of the girls said from behind him and Stiles winced, he’d forgotten they were there, the whole story would be all around town before the end of the day. 

“No. Like fight for entertainment kind of slavery ring.” Stiles replied, he’d rather people knew that he’d had to fight rather than think he had spent the last two years as a sex slave, although, really, if the pack hadn’t shown up when they had that was exactly what Stiles would have become, he fought back a shiver at that thought. 

“What!?” There were a chorus of shocked gasps and Stiles shrugged, he didn’t know what they wanted him to say, he couldn’t exactly explain that it had been supernatural fights to the death. 

“So did you like have to kill people?” The second girl asked and Stiles turned to glare at her, glad when she blushed and ducked her head so that she wasn’t looking at him. 

“Can we get this paperwork done so I can get the hell out of here?” Stiles hissed, hoping that it was quiet enough that only his dad would hear him. 

“Look, I’m sure it’s a lot for you to process, god knows I’m still trying to wrap my head around this, but, they’ll be plenty of time to talk later, right now, I want to start getting this made official.” Noah explained, steering Stiles towards his office and effectively shutting the door behind them. Stiles leaned against the door and took a steadying breath, his fingers itching to have a knife in his hands, to know he could at least protect himself. “Sorry you had to go through that.” Noah mumbled and Stiles just shook his head, it was fine, he’d survived worse. 

“Let’s just get this done.” Stiles replied quietly. It took them three hours to complete and file the relevant paperwork and Stiles was beginning to think that it would have been easier to stay dead by the time they were finally finished. They walked out to the car together, his dad putting the paperwork in the nearest mailbox and sighing heavily. 

“I guess we just have to wait now.” He said wearily before glancing across at Stiles and grinning, “I’m glad you are back son.” 

“Me too.” Stiles replied quietly as they pulled in at Deaton’s clinic. Deaton insisted that they needed the privacy to work and that they’d call when they were done so that someone could come and pick Stiles up. Stiles nodded to his dad that it was fine although he still heard his dad grumbling as he left the clinic. 

“So, let’s begin, shall we?” Deaton said ominously, leading Stiles into the back room. Stiles rolled his eyes at the back of Deaton’s head, the man hadn’t changed much, he still seemed like he loved being cryptic. They sat down in Deaton’s office, the man spending a few minutes studying Stiles as if trying to figure him out, Stiles stared right back at him until eventually Deaton sighed. “Firstly, the priority has to be to get your magic under control. Otherwise you could do untold damage, to yourself and those around you.” Stiles sat in silence, waiting for the man to continue. “Have you managed to do any magic successfully? To do what you aimed to do?” 

“Why are you helping me?” Stiles asked curiously, “I mean, you always have an ulterior motive, what is it this time?” Deaton actually had the decency to blush. 

“My ulterior motive is that I don’t want this town, my home, blown up, which is a serious possibility with you around. So, unless you intend to leave and go somewhere else, it’s my responsibility to ensure that you can control your magic.” Deaton said, looking at Stiles with something like disgust. “Now, do you want me to teach you or not?” 

Stiles paused, he wasn’t sure, he didn’t trust Deaton, never had and probably never would, but, he was the only one who knew anything about magic and Stiles knew he needed help to learn. He nodded and Deaton let out a sigh Stiles hadn’t realised he’d been holding.

“Good, so, again, have you managed to do anything successfully?” 

“Yes.” Stiles replied and Deaton raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue, “One of the rings we destroyed, the ceiling caved in and a chunk of stone was going to fall on dad, I stopped it and managed to keep it there until the others had got through too.” 

“Impressive.” Deaton hummed, “Anything else?” 

“I managed to channel Kira’s kitsune powers to blow a door apart, but, it’s like, instinctual? Like, when I was in the ring, I knew I needed cover to be able to get past all the guards and then there was like a sandstorm, all the sand started swirling around and it’s not like I tried to make it do it, it just did. The times that I’ve actually tried to use magic, it’s gone wrong, I blew a bathroom up, and a load of lights, and when I tried to stop the magic from burning underneath my skin I somehow managed to heal myself instead.” Stiles replied, the words spilling out of him quickly, Deaton just hummed again, pursing his lips and going back to studying Stiles who tried not to be irritated by it. 

“Very interesting. So, the magic you’ve successfully cast so far, you didn’t utter any incantations?” Stiles shook his head, “Hmm.” Deaton hummed again and Stiles clenched his fists so that he didn’t punch Deaton in the face. “Well, I believe you’re correct, what you’ve said suggests that your magic reacts with what you need during the time, but, when it is not a life or death situation, you have no control over it. We need to focus on making sure that you can control it in those unimportant moments.” 

“Also, it’d probably be a good idea if my skin didn’t start glowing like a lightbulb in the middle of the street.” Stiles replied and Deaton looked at him in astonishment.

“And has it done that before?” 

“Yes. Twice. The magic felt like too much and it felt like it was burning me from the inside out. Peter suggested burning off some energy. Once we fought and once we ran and it burned it off.” Stiles explained. 

“I would suggest that you ensure you don’t start glowing, that means you need to remove the magic before it gets to that stage as well as gaining control. I think you’ve done the right thing with burning it off, I’d suggest that you start making sure you run on a daily basis, and, if fighting works for you, do that too. It should keep your magic levels low enough that you don’t glow.” He paused, “How much do you know about magic Stiles?” 

“Not much. Only what I read, before,” He paused, “Before I was taken.”

“How long ago did your powers come in?” Deaton asked. 

“I started gaining magic about eighteen months ago, but, I couldn’t use it until the collar came off, so, about a week, maybe ten days.” He replied and Deaton looked at him in shock. 

“When you say you gained magic, I assume this is what you mentioned yesterday, that if another caster died in close proximity you absorbed their magic?” 

“Yes.” Stiles replied. 

“And how many casters has that been?” Deaton asked looking curious.

“Ten.” Stiles informed him, Deaton looked pale but Stiles tried to ignore it.

“Okay, so, let’s start with the basics.” Deaton said, clearing his throat and pressing his fingertips together, looking across at Stiles. “I’m sure you are already aware of a lot of this, but, bear with me as I want to ensure that you are not missing any vital information.” Deaton paused, obviously trying to gather his thoughts.

“As you’re aware, magic is a constant energy that flows through our bodies, we have to channel that energy to be able to cast the spells we want. That energy can power us, as you’ve found, it can make us stronger, faster, capable of accomplishing feats that normal humans would find impossible. It can also destroy us, if not treated properly it can overwhelm us, or, it can weaken us. If we try to cast a spell that is too complicated it can drain the energy from us. If we are tired or run down when we cast a spell that we have done a hundred times before, it can kill us. The most important thing is to channel the force of magic correctly at all times.”

“Because if I don’t I’ll either die or I’ll blow up the town and then die.” Stiles surmised. 

“Exactly.” Deaton smirked. “Now, the energy is part of you, so, by burning off your own energy you will keep the magic low enough that you shouldn’t glow. Hence, the idea that by going for a run, or fighting, would burn off the magic. Are you following me so far?” Stiles nodded. “Good. Now, we need to find a way for you to control the magic if you can’t burn off the excess for any reason.” 

“I could just not use it?” Stiles suggested, “If I just keep running or fighting or whatever I can burn it off and then I don’t have to use magic at all.” He explained.

“No. That’s not a good idea.” Deaton replied firmly. “You can’t never use it again, that’s not a solution, it would build up and make you even more of a danger to the town. You need to gain control, not try and subdue it.” 

“So, how do I gain control?” Stiles asked.

“It varies from caster to caster, I suggest that we start by doing some breathing exercises.” Deaton said. Stiles looked at him incredulously, but, he didn’t argue, Deaton knew what he was doing, Stiles had to hope that Deaton could help him learn to control his magic.

They spent the next six hours trying to get Stiles to meditate. Stiles was doing his best not to kill Deaton, mainly because he thought his dad might be a bit pissed at him, but if Deaton said to ‘relax’ or ‘take a deep breath in’ again then Stiles was going to shoot him, he wasn’t joking in the slightest. He actually felt more stressed out now than he did before, when Deaton finally said they were done Stiles couldn’t get out of there quick enough. 

He was going to call his dad to pick him up, he was. He’d practically run out of the clinic, desperate to get away from Deaton, and then he realised that he didn’t have a phone and to call him he’d have to go back inside. He decided there was no harm in running back to the house instead. 

He eased into a run, ignoring the way that people were looking at him as he ran through the town, he figured it was probably because he was running like someone was chasing him, but that’s how he learned to run, there was no point in doing it if he wasn’t pushing himself to the limit. Within a few minutes he’d settled into a rhythm, pushing himself to go faster but keeping his breathing even and in control, this felt more relaxing than the meditation ever could. 

He was stopped a few times by various people who had already heard about his miraculous return from the dead, wanting to get the gory details from him, he hated them all, he just wanted to get back to the house and hide away from everyone.

He stopped outside his old house, standing on the pavement and staring at it like some kind of creep, there was a family living there now, he could see them through the kitchen window, a man hugging his partner, a small child sat at the kitchen table, a baby in a high chair. They looked happy. Stiles wished he could go in, go up to his room, throw himself on his bed, hide under the covers, he wouldn’t get to do that again, instead he had to live with people who had betrayed him, abandoned him, left him with people that had hurt him. There was a loud rumble of thunder above him and then suddenly it started to rain, thick and fast and only over this patch of road. Stiles rolled his eyes, bloody magic, and started to run, hoping that by distracting himself the magic might go away on its own. 

Within a few minutes the rain had stopped except Stiles was still soaked, the t-shirt that had been tight to begin with was now stuck to him like a second skin, his jeans clinging tightly to his legs. He figured he’d probably dry out by the time he got back to the house. 

He ignored the pack that had obviously come out of the house when they’d heard him approaching, he noticed Derek wasn’t with them and he was a little glad about that. He didn’t want to deal with the Alpha at the moment. 

“Everything okay?” Lydia asked and Stiles nodded. 

“I thought you were going to call when you were done?” His dad queried, Stiles decided to not mention the part about running out of the clinic so fast that he’d forgotten he didn’t have a phone. 

“I, erm, I didn’t have a phone.” Stiles mumbled uncertainly and his dad’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Oh, Jesus, yeah, of course, stupid, I completely forgot. Hey, how about tomorrow we go shopping? Get you some stuff for your room?” Noah rambled, looking as embarrassed as the rest of the pack, Stiles just shrugged, he didn’t really mind, he’d managed without one for the past couple of years.

“How did things go with Deaton?” Aiden asked and Stiles shrugged again, not wanting to tell them that it was a complete failure and he felt more stressed than he ever had done before.

“That good huh?” Scott joked, grinning at Stiles slightly, Stiles met Scott’s eyes, saw the uncertainty there, saw his best friend flashing him the same grin that he had done a million times before and Stiles, well, his heart ached, because Scott, he’d thought they were friends, best friends, brothers even, and he’d betrayed him and nothing was ever going to make that okay. 

“I’m going to go to my room.” Stiles replied, rushing into the house, hurrying up the stairs and pretending he hadn’t seen the crestfallen look on Scott’s face. It hurt, it hurt that Scott was hurting like that because of him and then he hated the fact that he cared, Scott had done worse to him, so much worse, didn’t he deserve to hurt like that? Just a little bit? Wasn’t it only fair? So why did Stiles feel like such shit? 

His t-shirt was still a little damp and he threw it off into the corner of the room, pulling another one out of the drawers before catching sight of himself in the mirror, his tattoos had moved again, the wolf was prowling along his shoulder blade and looking at Stiles reproachfully in the mirror, there was a storm cloud covering part of his side and he could actually see the rain falling down his side towards his hip.

“What the fuck!?” He hissed in horror, his fingers trailing along the rain clouds, before looking back at the wolf who was now pacing at his side. “Don’t look at me like that. Scott betrayed me. He deserves to hurt, I don’t feel guilty about it.” He scolded even though even he could feel the lie in his words. He wanted to be angry at Scott, wanted to hate him, would force himself to do it, he couldn’t trust Scott, he knew that, he couldn’t fall for it again. 

There was a knock on his door and he threw his shirt on, covering up the tattoos before opening the door and looking at Cora, wondering what she wanted. 

“Dinner’s ready. Come eat.” She said before turning on her heel and going back down the stairs. Stiles followed after her, sitting down at the table like the rest of the pack, Derek still wasn’t here and Stiles gritted his teeth, he was not going to feel anything towards Derek either, they’d both betrayed him, he couldn’t trust them. 

“I assume Derek will return when he’s done with work?” Peter asked Noah who only nodded. “But you won’t tell me if that’s in an hour or two days from now?” Noah smirked at his plate but didn’t answer and Stiles’ confusion must have shown on his face. 

“None of us know what Derek does for a living.” Allison explained, “It has something to do with paint because he comes back smelling of it sometimes, but, other than that we have no idea.” 

“I think he’s like a decorator, you know, going around and painting people’s rooms and stuff.” Erica said. 

“Why don’t you just ask?” Stiles said, shoving a mouthful of soup into his mouth. 

“Like we haven’t tried that already!” Lydia said in exasperation, “Anyway, he can’t be a decorator because otherwise people around town would have seen him at someone’s house or something, but, nobody knows what he does, other than your dad of course. Maybe if you asked him he’d tell us?” Stiles turned to look at Noah who only grinned widely. 

“Nope.” Noah replied popping the ‘p’ as he smirked in a move that reminded them all so much of the old Stiles. “Why don’t you just ask Derek?” 

“Because he refuses to tell us anything!” Kira said, sounding the most annoyed that Stiles had ever heard her. “Maybe it’s not a proper job, I mean, you guys have plenty of money right, maybe he just has a hobby or whatever?” 

“You think he paints as a hobby?” Danny asked and Kira shrugged.

“It would make sense, he probably doesn’t want anyone to know because he’s not very good?” Ethan replied.

“He used to be quite good.” Peter hummed, “Before the fire, I remember Talia used to hang his drawings all over the kitchen, the walls were full of them, even as he got older, they were, well, great I suppose.” 

“We must have had this discussion a thousand times by now.” Noah said rolling his eyes, “I’m not telling you anything. You want to know then you ask Derek. Otherwise, let him have some privacy.” Stiles wanted to heed his father’s words, but, he was just so curious about that, what did Derek do that kept him busy? That kept him away for possibly days at a time? Stiles really wanted to know. He frowned, he didn’t want to know, he didn’t want anything to do with Derek, the man had betrayed him.


	15. Chapter 15

A week. That’s how long he had been back in Beacon Hills before his dad dropped the bombshell that Stiles would be going back to school in the morning. 

Derek had reappeared two days after that meal, he’d looked exhausted and when his eyes met Stiles’ they were full of guilt, Stiles couldn’t find it in himself to feel guilty about it, Derek deserved to feel guilty. Stiles had spent every day at Deaton’s clinic, feeling more and more frustrated by the second when he couldn’t get his magic to respond and it instead ended up doing almost the exact opposite of what they were trying to accomplish, if he wanted to lower the temperature of the room it became a sauna, if he wanted to lift a pen it instead stuck to the table. It was a nightmare. 

He’d seen several other people that he recognized over the past week, old Mrs Farmer was talking about throwing him a welcome home party, she had actually approached his dad to get it organised, Stiles didn’t want anything like that. He had trouble dealing with people on a one-to-one basis never mind an entire party, not that anyone would turn up, except to maybe stare at the freak. He’d made the mistake of taking his shirt off one evening as he ran back to the house from the clinic, the day he’d turned the entire clinic into a sauna and was sweating profusely when he left, he had wanted to feel the fresh air on his skin, it had turned out to be a huge mistake, every person in the vicinity had turned to stare at him, their eyes going wide in disgust when they saw the scars across his chest. He’d thrown the shirt back on and run the rest of the way back to the house, grabbing his knives and heading straight out to the preserve to train and ignoring the rest of the pack, trying not to think about how much it had bothered him. 

Despite their best efforts, Stiles refused to train any of them, he didn’t know how, he knew how to hurt, how to cause enough pain that he could land a killing blow, he didn’t know how to play fight, didn’t know how to train them without hurting them. Instead he spent his time away from the clinic running around the preserve, changing his path every day, getting to know his surroundings, ensuring he was prepared if there was an attack. He practiced with his knives for at least a couple of hours a day, it was more time than he’d ever been given in the ring – they’d almost always been taken off him when he wasn’t fighting - it meant that his aim only seemed to improve and he was grateful for that. 

He wasn’t an idiot, he could always see at least one member of the pack hovering nearby, watching him run or fight, he just refused to acknowledge them, he wasn’t going to train them, he couldn’t train them, he only knew how to fight when it was life or death.

He had been shopping with his dad, Lydia had invited herself along, he’d got a new phone and several bags of clothes, Stiles complained about them all but Lydia insisted they suited him. He made sure that he had plenty of long sleeved t-shirts and jumpers, if he wasn’t allowed to wear his arm guards then he wasn’t letting anyone see his arms, not after the way people had reacted after seeing him shirtless.

“You’re being ridiculous, nobody cares about your scars.” Lydia admonished when Stiles refused to wear the short-sleeved t-shirt she was trying to get him to wear. 

“You didn’t see people the other day.” Stiles said, glaring at the floor, “They were all staring at me, staring at the scars, like I was some kind of freak.” 

“I’m sure they weren’t.” Lydia tried, but she couldn’t be sure, she didn’t know who Stiles meant, she also knew she’d kill anyone who looked at him like that, Stiles had survived the closest thing to actual hell that any of them had ever experienced, nobody got to judge him for that. “What did you do about it?” 

“I put my shirt back on and carried on running.” Stiles shrugged, he was at least opening up to her, it was a long process, but, at least he was answering her questions with words which was better than last week, so long as Derek or Scott weren’t around she could nearly get a conversation out of him. 

“Well, if it makes you feel better, they were probably just checking you out. I happen to have done it a few times myself when I’ve seen you running.” She grinned and Stiles looked at her in confusion, raising an eyebrow, “Because you’re hot Stiles, lots of muscles, and when you go running there’s lots of sweat and it looks good, so, chances are they were too busy checking you out to even notice your scars.” Lydia tried to reassure him, she knew he didn’t believe her though. 

Stiles had even managed some proper food the last few days, almost normal sized meals, ignoring the way that the entire pack grinned whenever he scoffed the food into his mouth, even if he still ate like it was about to be snatched away from him at any second. 

“Stiles, kiddo, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” His dad began when they were all done eating, Stiles figured he should be worried considering the way the entire pack was still sat at the table and all of them were refusing to meet his eyes, Stiles waited in silence for his dad to continue, his grip on the small steel knife concealed in his jacket tightening slightly. “School starts back tomorrow, I think it’s important that you go back, try and graduate, the school said they were willing to make an exception because of the extenuating circumstances, they’ll let you take a couple of tests and if you do well on them then they’ll let you continue in this year and, providing you meet certain criteria, you’ll be able to graduate in a few months with the rest of the pack.” 

Stiles clenched the knife tighter, go back to school? Where there was a threat around every corner? Where he wouldn’t be able to run to burn off the excess energy, god, what if his skin started to glow in the middle of class? That wouldn’t be exactly keeping the supernatural a secret from anyone. He could feel the panic welling up inside him, could feel the magic building up in equal measure.

“We’ll be there.” Isaac said reassuringly, “You know, if you need help with anything.” 

“You mean passing a test when I haven’t even touched a book in two years?” Stiles laughed humourlessly but he could see how important this was to his dad, that Stiles finish school, graduate, he couldn’t take that from him. “Sure, I’ll give it a go.” He said, ignoring Scott when he grinned at him happily. 

Stiles barely slept that night, he couldn’t shake the worry at going back to school, it sounded so normal, he’d imagined it so many times in the beginning, when the hunters had held him, he’d been convinced that Derek and Scott were going to burst through the door any second, that he’d be back in school by the end of the week. He’d been so wrong, and now he was back and they wanted him to go back to school and he just couldn’t even process the idea, couldn’t imagine himself sat in a classroom surrounded by his peers, all of them looking at him, thinking he was freak, he couldn’t do it, give him a fight to the death and he’ll pull out a knife and smile, but, ask him to face down a classroom of kids his own age and he was nervous as hell.

By three in the morning he was sure he wasn’t going to sleep so he got up from where he’d been sat on the floor and decided to go for a run, he took his knives with him and headed out into the preserve, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness before he headed out on a different route. 

“Is Stiles up yet?” Noah asked as he sat at the table eating his breakfast, Isaac shaking his head slightly as he started waking up and looked at Noah groggily before shrugging. Noah was just contemplating going to wake Stiles up to make sure he wasn’t late when he heard his heartbeat coming back through the preserve. Isaac was sipping at the mug of coffee in front of him and apparently hadn’t noticed Stiles yet, only looking up when the back door opened and Stiles came in. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt, his feet were bare and dirty and he had several knives strapped in various places on his body, Noah gave him a small smile. “Morning son, you going to grab a shower before school? I can drive you if you want?” 

“Dad, I don’t need a chauffeur.” Stiles whined as he got himself a glass of water, “I’ll just grab a lift with one of the pack or something.” 

“Sure.” Isaac agreed, “I’ll take you.” He offered, trying to put Stiles at ease, they could both smell the fact that he was evidently worried about the test, about going back to school. Stiles disappeared upstairs to have a shower and Noah listened to the sounds of the house coming to life, it finally felt right, having Stiles here made everything complete, he just wished that his son wasn’t so angry at Scott and Derek. They’d all noticed it, noticed that he tensed up around them, that he barely spoke when they were around, none of them knew what to do about it, even when Noah had mentioned it Stiles had just insisted that he didn’t want to talk about it, along with everything else he didn’t want to talk about, and Noah hadn’t wanted to push him, hadn’t wanted to send Stiles over the edge. 

School went about as well as Stiles expected it to go, the test hadn’t been as hard as he’d thought, it was kind of exciting to see what facts he could pull from his brain, rather than analysing the person nearest to him to see what their weaknesses were and how to take them down if necessary. It hadn’t been necessary thankfully, he’d handed in the test to the teacher once he’d finished and then sat in silence for the next hour while she marked it, finally deeming that he would be able to continue his education, she drew up a lesson plan for him, passing it to him and explaining that he didn’t have any free periods as they needed to get him to complete two years’ worth of work in six months, Stiles didn’t complain, knew how much his dad wanted this for him. He wasn’t going to complain. 

He wandered towards the cafeteria when the dinner bell went, trying to refresh his knowledge of the school, making sure he knew where the nearest exits were, where the most defensible places were, he hated thinking like this, but he knew he could never let his guard down, not if he wanted to stay alive. He ignored the looks that other students were shooting him, ignored the whispered explanations of who he was to the younger freshmen, ignored the stories that were being told, about the Sheriff’s kid who was kidnapped and tortured and kept as a slave for two years, about how he was obviously damaged from it, about he was probably a freak. Stiles ignored every whisper that was just a little too loud and he continued on his way into the cafeteria, doing his best not to notice that every single head turned in his direction.

“Stiles!” Erica called out from a table part way across the cafeteria, she was waving enthusiastically at him and Stiles shook his head in disbelief at her actions, before heading across towards them and sitting down at the end of the table, as far away from Scott as he could get. 

“How did the test go? I’m guessing if you’re here then you passed?” Lydia asked and Stiles nodded silently. 

“That’s great news buddy.” Scott said, Stiles ignored him, ignored the look of hurt on Scott’s face, ignored the way Kira’s hand closed around Scott’s, ignored the way she whispered words of reassurance to him. It wasn’t that Stiles wanted to hurt Scott, it wasn’t like he enjoyed it, but he couldn’t trust him and if Stiles didn’t stay away from him, keep his distance, then he knew that he would be the one to pay for it in the end, the one who would end up betrayed and hurting while Scott sobbed crocodile tears and pretended that he cared. 

“What’s your schedule like?” Isaac asked, practically snatching it out of his hands and letting out a low whistle, “Wow, man, this is pretty heavy.” Stiles just shrugged, he’d have to find a way to do it, his dad wanted him to do this, he wasn’t going to let him down. 

“Stilinski!” A voice said, a hand slamming down onto the table in Stiles’ peripheral vision, Stiles grabbed the knife in the back of his jacket, holding it tightly in his hand out of sight under the table. He looked around at who had spoken and rolled his eyes when he saw that it was Mike. Mike used to give him shit, used to shove him around whenever he had the chance, Stiles used to think that he was worse than Jackson, now he realised that Mike was nothing in comparison to what he had seen. 

“What do you want Adams?” Jackson snarled and Stiles felt his lip twitch upwards at the thought of Jackson defending him against Mike.

“I heard Stilinski was back.” Mike replied loudly, drawing the attention in the cafeteria, “I thought I’d come say hi, is that alright with you? Or is he so mentally damaged he can’t even answer questions himself?” Mike joked and the crowd of boys behind him laughed loudly like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard, Stiles just stared at him impatiently.

“What do you want?” Stiles growled out, taking comfort in the weight of the knife in his hand. 

“I just came to see just how fucked up you were.” Mike laughed, “I mean, I heard you spent the last two years being some guys bitch, although who would want you as a sex slave I have no idea, but, still, I’m kind of curious to see just how damaged you are, how much of a freak you are.” 

“The only freak here is you.” Ethan snarled, “Get the fuck out of here.” 

“Aww, Stiles knows I’m only messing, don’t you?” Mike grinned, slapping a hand down on Stiles’ shoulder, Stiles reacted instantly, yanking Mike’s hand forward and pulling it down, forcing the other boy to follow the movement, slamming his head down into the table, holding it in place with his other hand, the knife stashed firmly in his pocket because he really didn’t want to be kicked out of school for carrying a weapon, his dad would be so pissed at him.

“Touch me again and I’ll break your arm.” Stiles replied, his tone calm and collected and sounding so fucking dangerous that everyone in the vicinity flinched backwards slightly, the wolves actually able to smell the magic that was rolling off Stiles, inhaling the scent of pure power and whimpering slightly. 

Stiles seemed to realise that his magic was getting the better of him, he stood up, releasing Mike’s arm and almost ran towards the exit, the other’s gathering up their bags and heading after him. 

“You’re a freak Stilinski!” Mike called after him, “This isn’t the end, you best watch your back!” Stiles scoffed, Mike had nothing on some of the people Stiles had gone up against over the years, if he ever started truly worrying that Mike could beat him, well, Stiles would have to be in a coma for Mike to have any chance of beating him, he couldn’t help the snort of laughter at that thought. He imagined himself lying motionless in a hospitable bed and Mike coming in, hitting Stiles in the face or chest, tripping over his own feet as Stiles showed no reaction, he bet the guy couldn’t land a solid punch if his life depended on it, he couldn’t believe he’d ever been intimidated by that guy.

“You okay?” Kira asked him and Stiles nodded, he could handle a jackass like Mike any day of the week.

Afternoon classes were hard, not the work, oddly Stiles found that fairly straight forward, he wasn’t exactly sure how or why, surely it should be a struggle for him after so long without any education? But, no, the work wasn’t the issue, the other students were, the way they all blatantly stared at him or whispered about him to their friends, really not as quietly as they hoped. Stiles tried not to let the fact that people were calling him a freak, or talking about how he’d been some sex slave for the past few years, or discussing the incident with Mike, get to him. He really did. He’d been through worse, he’d had to hold it together through a lot worse than this, had to survive when the hunters had spat insults at him, hoping to break him. High school kids were nothing compared to that. 

“How was your first day back?” Noah asked as soon as Stiles walked through the doorway after school, Derek and Peter were trailing behind him and Stiles fought the urge to snarl when he saw Braeden hovering next to Derek, he’d told her to stay the hell away from him.

“Good.” Stiles replied, already making his way towards the stairs, he didn’t want to talk about it, he just wanted to go upstairs, finish his homework, practice his magic and then go for a run, he didn’t want to be living in this house with people who had betrayed him. 

“There weren’t any issues? With the class work? Or any other students?” Noah pressed and Stiles shrugged casually, his dad turned to Jackson who was a few steps behind Stiles and fixed him with a steady gaze, Jackson shifted uncomfortable and Stiles rolled his eyes, knowing he was going to say something.

“Mike Adams gave him a bit of shit but Stiles handled it.” Jackson blurted out, looking at Stiles almost apologetically.

“Handled it how?” Noah asked suspiciously.

“I didn’t kick the shit out of him if that’s what you’re asking.” Stiles sighed. 

“What was said? I’ll put a complaint in at the school.” Noah said seriously.

“Mike said that Stiles was mentally damaged, he called him a freak, he said he’d been a sex slave.” Isaac rambled nervously and Stiles turned his glare on Isaac, his dad didn’t need to know any of that. 

“I’ll kill that little bastard.” Noah snarled, his eyes flashing blue for a second. 

“Don’t bother. It’s no big deal.” Stiles replied. 

“It’s no big deal!?” Lydia snapped from the doorway, “He called you a freak in the middle of the cafeteria, he made sure everyone heard that he thought you were some guys bitch for the past two years, you think that’s acceptable? And then he threatened you, he told you to watch your back! You think that is okay?” 

“He threatened you?” Derek growled, his eyes flashing red and Stiles rolled his eyes, god, everyone was being so dramatic. 

“As if I’m afraid of fucking Mike Adams.” Stiles drawled, “I could have snapped his neck at lunchtime without any issue, besides, if you want to put in a complaint about every person who called me a freak or whispered about the fact I was a ‘sex slave’ then you’re going to have to complain about three quarters of the school.” 

“What?” Peter said shocked, “They have no right to say anything like that.” 

“They’re teenagers, what do you expect? I’ve been gone two years, I’m the exciting new toy they all want to play with, besides, if you’re really bothered about people calling me a freak there’s a whole selection of other people you could go hunt down that said a lot worse over the past years. So, I’ve got homework, are we done here?” There was silence as everyone processed what Stiles had said, he saw the way some of them winced, some of them clenched their jaws as their eyes flashed and Braeden who just looked uncomfortable. 

“I still want to do something about this Mike guy.” Noah complained.

“Well I don’t.” Stiles replied before sighing heavily, “Look, dad, it’s not a big deal, I can handle him, so can we please just drop this?” 

“Fine.” Noah agreed eventually but he didn’t look happy about it, Stiles made his way up the stairs, away from the rest of the pack and shut the door to his room before sliding down the back of the door and resting his head on his knees. Okay, he was telling the truth, it wasn’t bad compared to what he had gone through previously, but, that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt, he just knew better than to show it. Once upon a time he wore his heart on his sleeve, but now he knew that people had the ability to tear you apart when they knew they could get to you. It was better to pretend it didn’t affect him at all. 

He finished his homework pretty quickly, not even struggling with the equations he’d been given, maybe he was better at this than he thought. He spent the next hour practicing his magic, Deaton had given him a powder that he was supposed to put in a circle around him, it was supposed to centre his magic and ensure that he was in control, instead he ended up knocking over the cabinet when it suddenly launched itself across the room and smashed into the opposite wall. 

Even with soundproofed walls the wolves must have been able to hear that, especially if the sound of approaching footsteps were anything to go by, Stiles was kind of surprised that whoever was outside actually bothered knocking instead of just bursting in. 

“I’m fine!” He called out, attempting to manhandle the cabinet back together, the door opened anyway and Derek stared at him, his gaze shifting to the cabinet before he strode towards him and picked it up with ease. 

“Maybe you should practice outside where you can’t break everything you own.” Derek suggested and Stiles felt an odd flutter in his chest at the thought of owning anything, he shut it down immediately, nodding tightly at Derek at they managed to get the cabinet standing again, “It’s not too bad, just a little banged up, I can get you a new one though if you want?” 

“It’s fine.” Stiles replied. 

“Alright, well, I was coming to tell you that we’re going for a run, all of us, I just wondered if you’d like to come with us? Or if you want to go out by yourself?” It pained Derek to even think of Stiles out running in the preserve and not running with the pack, but he understood that Stiles needed space, needed time to adjust, he didn’t want to push him into anything. Stiles took a moment to think, he didn’t really want to run with Scott, Derek or Braeden, but, he did need to burn off some excess energy, he could feel the burn beginning beneath his skin and knew that by morning he’d be on fire, it made sense to do something about it now. He could make sure that he kept away from them, ran with the others, that wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

“I’ll go with the pack.” He replied when he realised that Derek was still waiting for an answer. Derek did his best not to grin, he didn’t want to scare Stiles away, but, still, his lips twitched upwards and his eyes crinkled slightly at the corners and he couldn’t meet Stiles’ eyes because he knew he’d blurt out something stupid.

“Alright, great, we’re ready to head off, if you are?” 

“Sure. Give me a sec.” Stiles said, moving over to the bay window and grabbing his swords and the rest of his knives that he’d left their earlier that morning. He strapped them on quickly, ignoring the way that Derek was looking at him oddly and then moved past him to head downstairs. 

Stiles enjoyed running like this, when he wasn’t running for his life, when he was just running for the fun of it, he kept close to the humans of the pack, even though he knew he could have run a lot faster he didn’t like that they were out here without any proper protection, Braeden at least had the common sense to keep as far away from him as possible. The wolves ran near them, knowing that they could easily go at twice the speed but keeping pace with the humans because this was a pack run, not a run for their lives, just a night out together. 

Stiles did stay near the humans, at least for a little while, except then Danny challenged him to a race and Stiles grinned at him before they both took off running, there was a small stream about a mile ahead of them and it was the first one to reach there, Danny took a clear path but Stiles knew that the other path was slightly more direct, just with a few more obstacles. He raced forwards, leaping over the first fallen log never breaking his stride as he slid under a half-toppled tree and then placing his foot against the trunk of the nearest tree as he leaped over another log. 

He could hear some of the other wolves behind him, yipping happily as they ran, saw Cora dart under the tree that he’d just jumped over as she streaked ahead of him and he laughed as he chased after her, pushing himself harder to catch up with her. Needless to say; they beat Danny to the stream, he arrived a few minutes after them, panting heavily and staring at Stiles in amazement. 

“Dude, how did you do that?” Danny gasped, trying to catch his breath as the rest of the pack caught up with them, Stiles just shrugged, it was just natural to him now, to push himself as far, as fast, as hard as he could, his reflexes were the only thing standing between life and death. 

He couldn’t feel the slight burn of magic under his skin any more though so he guessed that was a good thing, he wanted to carry on running for a bit longer yet though, he still needed to practice with his knives, he still ached to run for a little longer despite the fact the humans were discussing heading back to the house now that Danny had finally caught his breath again.

“How about you meet us back at the house later?” Lydia suggested and Stiles looked up at her in surprise, “It’s obvious you want to run more, go, we’ll head home and see you back there in a bit.” She grinned and Stiles fought the urge to pull her into a tight hug before he spun on his heel, leaped lightly over the stream and started sprinting away from the pack and deeper into the preserve. He could hear at least a few of the wolves following after him, knowing somehow that some of them wanted to run further before heading back.

Derek kept pace with Stiles, he wasn’t using magic to fuel his speed this time, instead just running with his normal speed, it was still impressively fast and although Derek was keeping up it was a pretty close thing. They ran for another half hour, Erica, Aiden and Peter running in close proximity to Derek, yipping happily as they followed Stiles’ route. 

Stiles slid two smaller knives from the holder at his lower back, gripping them tightly as he dropped to the ground, rolled forwards and released the knives, hitting the middle of the tree in front of him, jumping back to his feet and pulling the knives from the trunk as he continued on his run without breaking his stride. 

Derek just watched in amazement as Stiles jumped from tree to tree, pushing himself from one trunk to the next without touching the ground, each movement so graceful and powerful and with such purpose as he jabbed a knife into each trunk and then pulled it out again just as easily. Derek slowed his pace slightly just so he could drink in Stiles, the way he moved, the way his muscles clenched a moment before he pushed himself forwards. He looked otherworldly but Derek knew that in this moment this was just Stiles, no magic, just Stiles, he knew the others could all smell his arousal but he couldn’t help it, Stiles was very, well, arousing. 

By the time they made it back to the house they were all exhausted, Stiles actually fell to the ground, lying on the cold ground and taking in great big gulps of air, Erica flopped down on top of him, followed by Aiden, then Peter, Derek hesitated, wondering how Stiles would react to werewolves piling on top of him, watching as he reached up and stroked Peter’s coat almost gently, Derek lay down near Stiles, his head resting lightly on Stiles’ legs, ready to shift the moment that he sensed Stiles was uncomfortable. 

At some point the rest of the pack came outside, Melissa shouting that food was ready and to come inside, Erica shifted back while she was still on top of Stiles and he let out a little squeak of surprise when suddenly there was a naked woman lying on top of him, Erica winked at him and then sauntered into the house while Boyd just stared at his girlfriend with amusement, used to her antics by now. Thankfully none of the others decided to do the same thing as Stiles sprung to his feet quickly, checking his knives were all accounted for before he headed into the house. Derek hoped that one day Stiles would feel comfortable enough that he wouldn’t have to constantly check for his knives.

By the time Saturday came around Stiles was settling into some kind of routine, he’d get up and go for a run in the mornings, go to school, come back and finish his homework before he went back out into the preserve spending a couple of hours trying to follow Deaton’s advice to control his magic and when that spectacularly failed, usually resulting in something getting destroyed, he’d practice with his knives. He was doing his best to keep his distance from Scott and Derek, mainly because he was finding it harder and harder to stay mad at them, he found himself wanting to talk to them and he had to remind himself time and time again that they could not be trusted, no matter how well they could pretend like they cared. 

His dad decided to reward him for working so hard by taking him out to the diner they used to go to and ordering Stiles a portion of curly fries, he actually managed to eat most of them before he started to feel a bit sick, his dad had smiled happily at him the entire time, telling him how proud he was of him. Stiles spent most of the meal blushing because there was plenty of things his dad should think about him, but being proud wasn’t one of them, if he knew some of the things that Stiles had done to survive, there was no way he’d be proud, he’d hate him. 

They headed back to the house later in the afternoon and it had been so nice just spending time with his dad, it wasn’t that he minded being surrounded by the pack all the time, but, really, since everything had happened, they’d barely had a chance to talk, just the two of them. Stiles talked more that afternoon than he had done since he’d first seen the pack in the arena, he talked about all the things that had happened before he’d been taken, everything since the night Scott was bitten up until the night he was captured by Gerard. He was sure his dad had heard it all before but he still listened, still wanted to hear it from Stiles’ point of view, his dad told him about what had happened since he found out about the supernatural, about how he and Melissa ending up dating, how they met Cora and the twins. They talked about school, how he was finding the work, was he settling in okay, if there had been any other incidents, there had been a few but Stiles wasn’t telling him that, there was no point in worrying him for no reason. They talked about the station, the cases his dad had at the moment, how he handled being a werewolf, if he could work on the cases without worrying about losing control. It was nice. 

By the time they got back to the house Stiles’ throat was throbbing, he obviously wasn’t used to talking so much but he’d enjoyed it, enjoyed talking to his dad, they hadn’t talked about what Stiles had been through, hadn’t talked about what he’d done while in the arena, Stiles was glad about that, he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to talk about that, wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to talk about some of the things that happened and his dad hadn’t pushed him which he was really grateful for. 

He still slept by the window or propped up against the door, the bed hadn’t been slept in since he’d gotten back, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but he couldn’t risk not being awake enough to know if there was a threat, besides, the carpeted floor was so much more comfortable than what he’d been subjected to previously, he was sure if he slept in a bed he would never want to get out of it again. 

He was supposed to go and see Deaton again on Sunday afternoon so he got up early and went for a run through the preserve, smiling to himself proudly when he hit every target he wanted, the knives more like extensions of him than separate objects, scaling up a tree and leaping from branch to branch, from tree to tree, until he landed back on the ground and ran the rest of the way back to the house. Danny and Jackson were the only two up when he came in through the back door, both looking at him in surprise over the tops of their mugs of coffee. 

“Good run?” Danny asked and Stiles nodded, grabbing himself a glass of water and downing almost all of it. 

“We’re going to go do a grocery shop if you wanted to come with us?” Jackson asked and Stiles looked at him in surprise, they’d never really gotten on before, before he’d been taken, it was weird that he probably got on better with Jackson than Scott now. 

“Sure. I just need to grab a shower.” He replied, knowing it was probably a good thing to get out of the house before he went to Deaton’s, he could probably get them to drop him in town and then walk the rest of the way to the clinic. 

“No worries.” Danny smiled easily. They were ready to go within fifteen minutes, just as some of the others were starting to immerge from their rooms, Stiles frowned when Jackson and Danny both insisted that he left his knives behind until Jackson finally relented and said he could take one, Stiles grinned at him and Jackson blinked stupidly for a minute before shaking his head and putting an arm around Stiles’ shoulder and led him towards the car. “We’re only going to the shop, you won’t need a knife there.” Danny muttered as they climbed into Danny’s car, Stiles getting the passenger seat and Jackson sitting in the back. 

“Hey, if it makes him comfortable…” Jackson trailed off and Stiles looked at him in surprise, was Jackson defending Stiles? From Danny!? When had the world got so flipped on its head? 

Stiles actually had fun, they grabbed a trolley each and Jackson basically threw everything he could fit into each trolley, when he saw Stiles looking longingly at a packet of Reese’s he cleared the shelf of them, pushing the entire stack into his cart and then refusing to meet Stiles’ eyes. Stiles couldn’t help the smile on his lips though, or miss the way that Danny smirked at Jackson’s actions. 

It took them over an hour to get everything on Danny’s list, and a lot of other items that weren’t, before they headed to the checkouts, Jackson handing over Derek’s card without a second’s hesitation. Stiles wondered vaguely how Derek could possibly afford to pay for everything, the bill was almost eight hundred dollars and, from what Danny had said, this was only a week’s supply, but then, Derek had spent six hundred thousand on purchasing Stiles for the night, so, obviously, money wasn’t an issue for him, probably the life insurance for his family. Stiles felt kind of guilty that Derek had spent such a large sum of money on him, what was no doubt a good chunk of the insurance just so he could talk to Stiles without anyone overhearing. It was almost enough to make Stiles forgive him, almost, except he knew that Derek would probably do the same thing all over again if the situation arose, would betray Stiles again if it came to a choice between his beta’s and Stiles. 

“Dude, you should have seen the way that girl was staring at you!” Danny crowed as they made their way out of the store and back towards the car, Stiles had seen her, met her gaze as she blatantly stared at him before she looked down at the ground blushing, she’d been looking at him like she knew how fucked up he was, Stiles didn’t know why Danny was excited about that. 

“No way, she was so out of Stilinski’s league.” Jackson teased, knocking his shoulder into Stiles’ to show him he was only kidding, Stiles figured that Danny thought the girl had been checking Stiles out.

“I think you should stick to your gaydar.” Stiles replied quietly and Danny burst into laughter. 

“My gaydar works perfectly thank you!” Danny laughed.

“Yeah, it’s just the straight people that you can’t figure out.” Jackson teased. 

“Hey, I noticed Stiles looking at her too!” Danny replied. 

“Well, two issues there, one, I was trying to figure out if she was any kind of threat, and two, I’m more on the bisexual scale, so I don’t think I fit into either your gaydar or straight spectrum or whatever.” Stiles joked. 

“I didn’t know that.” Danny said sounding suddenly serious and Stiles frowned, not sure what he’d said wrong, “I mean, about you being bisexual, I totally figured out you were assessing the threat and all that.”

“Well, it wasn’t like I went around telling everyone. Besides, it was only one guy, that, you know, I liked, and that was, it was before.” Stiles rambled, suddenly feeling like an idiot for even bringing the topic up. 

“I thought you were in love with Lydia before?” Jackson asked and Stiles shrugged.

“I was. For a while at least. But, things changed, I mean, I still like her, but as a friend more than anything else. Scott and I talked about it, well, I talked and Scott ignored me and daydreamed about Allison.” Stiles smiled fondly when he thought about that memory and then he remembered what Scott had done and he clenched his fists. “Anyway, like I said, it’s not that big of a deal, it’s not like I actually want to date anyone now, or probably ever.” 

“Well the world is missing out then.” Danny grinned as they loaded up the groceries, “Anyone would be lucky to date you.” Stiles rolled his eyes, he didn’t need Danny’s sympathy. 

“You don’t need to be at Deaton’s until after lunch, right?” Jackson asked, changing the subject quickly, Stiles nodded and Jackson continued “All right, well, let’s take this stuff home and then I’ll drive you back to the clinic later if you like?” 

“Sure.” Stiles replied, shutting the boot and climbing into the back seat where most of the seat was covered with more bags.

They drove out of town and back towards the preserve, Jackson turning up the music and singing along badly, Danny grinning at him before singing along just as badly and twice as loud, Stiles smiled at the two of them, smiled at how relaxed they seemed, how young and carefree they looked, he wished he could have some of his innocence back. They were about fifteen minutes from the house when Stiles noticed the black van behind them suddenly get a lot closer, he tensed and leaned forwards, turning the music down, much to Jackson and Danny’s dismay. 

“What’s wrong?” Jackson asked sounding suddenly serious. 

“The van behind us.” Stiles replied, “Don’t look.” He didn’t want the other driver to get suspicious, “It’s been following us since the store and it’s gotten a lot closer in the last hundred meters.” 

“He’s probably just wanting to overtake.” Danny replied calmly, glancing in his rear-view mirror at the black van that was extremely close. “Right?” 

“Yeah, probably.” Stiles said although he didn’t sound convinced. 

“What else would it be?” Danny turned to glance at him sounding nervous.

“Danny!” Jackson shouted in fear when another van pulled out of the junction in front of them and blocked the road, Danny slammed his breaks on but it was too late to do anything about it and the car smashed into the side of the van and came to an abrupt stop. Danny’s head slammed into the steering wheel, Jackson hadn’t been wearing his seatbelt and hit the windscreen hard, going half through it and only just managing to throw his hands up to protect himself as best he could. Stiles had been leaning forward and he’d hit his shoulders on the seats in front of him before he was thrown backwards again, hitting his head on the side window as the bags of shopping flew through the air before coming to a stop in a completely different position. 

Stiles knew he’d lost consciousness, at least for a moment, when he came around his ears were ringing, he could hear Jackson groaning from the front of the car and Danny was surprisingly quiet, Stiles grabbed hold of the door handle and toppled out onto the floor when he opened it. He staggered to his feet, moving around to the front of the car and pulling Jackson out of the windscreen even as he saw several men approaching from the van behind them. He swiped at the blood that was running down into his eyes and tried to steady himself, Jackson was clinging onto him tightly, using Stiles to keep himself upright even as his wounds started to heal, pulling out shards of glass from his forehead and arms. 

The bonnet was crumpled from the force of the impact, the van that they’d hit had rolled onto its side and another man was climbing out of the door, grinning wildly. Glass cracked under Stiles’ feet as he shifted his stance, trying to assess what these men wanted, why they’d caused the crash, why they were here.

“Danny!” Jackson slurred, seeing that Danny was still unconscious behind the wheel.

“Can you walk?” Stiles whispered, keeping his eyes on the approaching men, they didn’t look friendly, Jackson nodded, his gaze going to the men approaching them. “Get to Danny.” Stiles said, pulling the knife from the back of his jeans and stepping forward, putting himself between Jackson and the approaching men, knowing that Jackson would have to go over the front of the car to get to Danny, but at least there was only one guy to deal with in that direction.

Jackson went to move and that seemed to spur the men into action, all of the surging forwards with non-human speed. 

“Werewolves.” Jackson spat out, only just dodging a fist that was swung at him, Stiles blocked the first punch swung in his direction, slamming his knife into the man’s chest, pulling it out and piercing his temple before he dropped to the floor. Stiles didn’t know what they wanted but he wasn’t going to show any mercy, his head was spinning, he had to put them down and make sure they didn’t get back up. 

“Urgh.” He heard Danny groan from the front of the car, heard his door swing open as Danny clambered out, clutching at his head. Stiles slid to his knees, ignoring the glass that cut into his legs, slicing into his opponent’s knees and, when he fell to the ground, finishing him off by putting his knife into his eye. He stumbled back to his feet, trying to get around the car and to Danny, wanting to protect him and Jackson, hoping that Jackson could at least defend himself better than Danny right now, even if he was still fighting with the first wolf that had attacked him. 

“Stop!” A voice commanded and everyone stilled, another wolf had a hand around Danny’s throat, his claws digging in deeply, Danny’s eyes wide with panic, all signs of any injury gone as adrenaline flooded his system and he looked at Stiles and Jackson who were both frozen, unsure what to do. Stiles took a step forward and the man tightened his grip, his claws digging deeper and Danny gasped for breath as he was practically lifted from the floor, his hands dangling uselessly at his side as if terrified any movement would cause him more harm. “Drop your weapon.” The man ordered, indicating Stiles’ knife.

Stiles glared at him, wondering if he could throw the knife and kill him before he tore Danny’s throat out, usually he would say yes, but, considering the way his vision was blurring slightly he couldn’t say for definite, it wasn’t worth the risk, he couldn’t risk magic either, not with the way it had been acting up and he still had no control over it, he was probably equally as likely to blow Danny up rather than the other wolf. He dropped the knife to the floor.

“Good choice.” The man snarled, nodding his head to indicate to the other men who grabbed hold of Jackson and then two more grabbed hold of Stiles’ arms, he swallowed down the instinct to fight back, Danny was in danger, he couldn’t risk him getting hurt. 

“I really wouldn’t do that.” One of the other men growled, shoving a hand over Jackson’s mouth when it looked like he was about to howl for help, “You call for your Alpha and you’ll all be dead long before he gets here.” Jackson seemed to have healed from the crash now, his eyes fixed on Danny before darting to Stiles, unsure what to do or how to react. 

“You killed two of our pack.” The wolf that was holding Danny snarled and Stiles glanced at the bodies on the floor behind him and shrugged casually in reply. “Maybe we should return the favour.” The man said and tightened his grip on Danny’s neck, Stiles went to move towards him when the hands on his arms pulled him backwards. 

“What do you want?” Stiles spat angrily. 

“Maybe we just wanted a little fun.” The man joked. 

“So you decide to attack two members of the Hale pack!? Somehow I find it difficult to believe that anyone is that stupid. Not when we are in Hale territory. Now, let him go before their Alpha finds out, let him go while you’ve still got the option to walk away from this.” Stiles threatened and the man flashed blue eyes at him, that kind of surprised Stiles, he’d thought this guy was the Alpha. 

“Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal.” The man grinned, baring his teeth at Stiles, “My Alpha wants to meet with you. Come with us and I’ll let these two go running back to their Alpha, I won’t even make you pay for the members of my pack that you killed.” 

“Fine.” Stiles replied without a moment’s hesitation, he had to make sure that Danny and Jackson got away from here, then he could take all of this pack out without having to worry about either of them. The man arched an eyebrow in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected Stiles to agree so easily, even Danny and Jackson were staring at him, Jackson shaking his head violently but unable to speak because of the hand still over his mouth. 

“Glad we can come to an agreement.” The wolf said, “Ben, grab the bodies and put them in the back of the van.” The man ordered, his hand still gripped tightly around Danny’s throat. “Alex, do it.” Stiles didn’t know who Alex was or what he was supposed to do, he couldn’t say he was exactly surprised when one of his arms was yanked backwards and twisted violently, the bone snapping easily under the werewolf’s pressure, Stiles couldn’t help the muffled whimper of pain he let out before he managed to slam his lips together and grit his teeth. 

“I would apologise, but I’ve seen you fight before, I’m not willing to take the risk that you’ll think it’s a good idea to fight when these two are gone.” The man grinned, “After all, The Kid is not someone you want to mess with, even with a broken arm.” 

“You should remember that.” Stiles snarled, doing his best to block out the pain, he’d suffered through worse than this, he could handle this too. 

“You want him in the back Kev?” Alex asked and the man nodded. Alex and Ben dragged Stiles towards the back of the van, Kev following after them, still gripping Danny tightly by the throat, the wolf holding Jackson followed them and Jackson was looking more panicked by the second. 

“Handcuff him too, I’m not taking any chances here.” Kev ordered, smirking as Stiles was handcuffed to the bar that ran along the side of the van. 

“Alright, now you let them go.” Stiles growled. 

“You don’t get to make demands of me.” Kev replied, digging his claws in a little deeper. Stiles kicked out abruptly, knocking Ben to the floor and wrapping his legs around his chest, holding him in place. 

“This is going to go one of two ways, either you let them go and I’ll come with you without putting up a fight, or, you don’t and I kill this one, then your other pack members, then you, then I’ll track down your Alpha and kill him and the rest of your pack. You know who I am, what I’m capable of, you willing to run that risk?” Stiles whispered dangerously, tightening his hold to cut off Ben’s air supply when he tried to struggle out of Stiles’ grip. 

Kev stared at him for a full minute, obviously trying to decide if he should call Stiles’ bluff before finally he relented and released his hold on Danny who coughed and spluttered and grabbed at his throat and bent over double trying to catch his breath. 

“Mark, let’s go.” Kev ordered and Stiles watched as the wolf holding Jackson let go of him, shoving him to the ground, before jumping into the van after Kev. Stiles just had time to see Jackson lunge forward as if he was going to attack the wolves inside in an attempt to get to Stiles, then the sliding door shut and they were speeding away, leaving Danny and Jackson stood in the middle of the road. 

“Can you walk?” Jackson asked Danny, rushing to his side. 

“Yeah, I think so.” Danny replied, doing his best to straighten up even as he swayed slightly on the spot. 

“We need to get back to the house, come on.” Jackson said, practically throwing Danny on his back and running into the preserve, taking the most direct route back to the house.   
Derek had finished three paintings in the two weeks since they’d been back, the first had been of Stiles in the arena, his helmet firmly in place so you couldn’t see his face, the scars clearly visible on his chest, the tattoos on his side, the swords at his sides, dripping blood. Derek had thought about it for a long time before deciding to add in the collar around his neck, reminding himself that although Stiles had been deadly in that arena, he’d been a slave, he had never been there by choice, and yet, he’d made the best decisions he could in the circumstances. Derek wasn’t going to say it was his best work, but he was pretty damn proud of it, he looked dangerous and innocent in equal measure, he’d put it on the wall of the container next to the other painting of Stiles, sure that he wouldn’t sell that one either, that he needed it here with him. 

The second one had been of all of the wolves running through the preserve with Stiles in amongst them, Derek had painted him wearing shorts rather than his boxers but he’d left Stiles’ feet bare, there was something so wild about Stiles running through the preserve in his bare feet, it felt like Stiles belonged there. 

The third had probably been the most difficult one, he had wanted to paint one of the pack, all of them, the humans too, but he hadn’t wanted to show any faces, his pack’s safety came over everything else and if anyone ever figured out what he was, he didn’t want to have given away his packs identities. He’d painted them running through the preserve the other night, the wolves were all fully shifted, Lydia’s, Allison’s and Melissa’s hair was blowing wildly around their faces, you could see glimpses of their faces but nothing more, Chris’ face was obscured by his arm raising a gun, Kira’s by her katana, Danny and Stiles were both wearing hoodies that they had pulled up over their heads, Stiles’ swords swinging dangerously, Danny holding a gun tightly in his outstretched hand. 

It was only when he had finished the painting that he realised he hadn’t bothered to include Braeden anywhere. He’d been wanting to end things since they’d come back from Mexico but he just wasn’t sure how to do it, it never felt like the right time and whenever they did have the house to themselves, whenever he thought it would be a good time and started trying to discuss things, Braeden ended up railroading the conversation into making the fact they were mates official. Derek didn’t want that, he kept making excuses about how they needed to let everyone adjust to things before they made any more changes to his pack’s lives. As it was, they were all only just getting used to the fact that Stiles was alive, whenever he said that though they ended up arguing, Braeden insisting that Derek loved her so why was he so bothered about Stiles and Derek arguing that he cared about him, in the same way he cared about every other member of the pack, glad that she couldn’t hear the lie. 

Sometimes Derek’s attempts to end things went completely in the wrong direction, he’d start telling Braeden that he wanted to talk to her and suddenly she’d be all over him and they’d end up having sex and then he couldn’t dump her, not when they were still lying in bed together, basking in the afterglow. He’d tried several times to tell her to stop and that he needed to talk to her but then she’d look at him with worry in her eyes and he could smell the hurt and rejection rolling off her before he could even open his mouth and he just felt so goddamn guilty that he just couldn’t go through with it. 

Something had to change though, he couldn’t keep going on like this. He didn’t want to hurt Braeden, but he couldn’t keep pretending that he was okay with this, that he wanted anything like this with her. He knew he wasn’t going to be with Stiles, he knew that, but, still, he’d rather be alone than with Braeden, and it wasn’t because she was an awful person or anything like that. It was just, Stiles was back and even though they weren’t going to be together, Derek still felt his heart begin to race whenever Stiles met his gaze, even if Stiles was only glaring at him, he still felt butterflies in his stomach whenever anyone mentioned his name or when Stiles spoke. He knew that he never felt anything like that with Braeden. He was settling for her. That wasn’t fair. To either of them. And, even though he knew it was going to hurt causing her pain, in the long run it would be so much better for her, because, Derek, well, he wasn’t right for her, there would be someone out there better for her, someone who would always put her first. 

He'd decided he just had to do it, there was never going to be a good time, he just had to be brave and do it and not let himself get distracted, so, Sunday morning, when everyone was either still asleep or downstairs and he was lying awake thinking about how he could possibly phrase it, he decided he just had to do it now. 

He got up and dressed and went to make himself some breakfast, Lydia telling him that Jackson, Danny and Stiles had gone shopping as he poured the last of the milk over his cereal. He ate his breakfast in silence, Lydia looking at him suspiciously, the cereal felt like cardboard in his mouth, he just wanted this over, wanted to stop feeling like a complete bastard for leading Braeden on. As soon as he finished he headed back upstairs and into his bedroom, glad to see Braeden awake and looking at him in surprise.

“Everything okay Derek?” She asked.

“No.” He said seriously, moving towards the bed and taking her hand in his, “Look, I do care about you, you know that? That I care about you and I wouldn’t ever want to hurt you?” He began, registering Braeden tense next to him, he opened his mouth to continue and felt a sudden pain rip through his chest, he gasped, trying to catch his breath as Braeden looked at him with panic. 

Derek stumbled to his feet, having to lean on the wall to keep himself upright, he could feel the bonds with Danny and Jackson, something was wrong with them, they were hurt. He tried to convey the message to Braeden but she was just watching him with wide eyes and terror in her features.

“Derek? What’s wrong? What’s going on?” She was asking the questions, obviously confused as to what was happening, but she wasn’t doing anything productive, he needed to get to Jackson and Danny now. He remembered what Lydia had said, that Jackson and Danny had gone shopping and that they’d taken Stiles with them. Oh God, Stiles, Stiles might be in trouble and Derek couldn’t feel him because they hadn’t exactly bonded since Stiles had come back. God, he needed to get to him, to them, his pack were in trouble. 

He staggered to the bedroom door, opening it quickly and almost falling into the hallway, Braeden shouting behind him, finally drawing the attention from the rest of the pack as Derek tried to breathe through the pain in his chest, it felt like someone was crushing his chest, he couldn’t breathe. 

“Derek!” Noah called in a panic, rushing to him, Derek wasn’t sure when he’d fallen to the floor, but the fact was Noah was on his knees in front of him, cradling Derek’s face in his hands, it became pretty obvious that he must have collapsed at some point. “What’s going on?” 

“Get guns.” Derek panted out, those two words feeling like they were sucking out all his energy, he had to stop wasting time, he had to get to them, “Trouble.” He panted when Noah hadn’t moved, the whole pack was gathered on the staircase behind them now, had heard his words and rushed to grab their guns from the various places they were stashed around the house, Braeden hovering near his side the entire time. 

He wasn’t sure how long it took before the pain began to lessen slightly, he hoped that meant that Jackson and Danny were getting better, that they weren’t in any more danger, he just wished that he could feel Stiles, wished that he could know Stiles was okay too. When he seemed to have got his breathing back under control he pulled himself to his feet and met the expectant gaze of the rest of his pack. 

“What’s going on Derek?” Peter asked firmly.

“The bonds with Jackson and Danny, they’re hurt. Something’s happening.” Derek explained, moving towards the staircase, hoping he could track them through the bonds, praying the three of them were together. 

“But,” Allison began frowning as her mind caught up with what Derek had said, “What about Stiles? Can you feel him too?” 

“No.” Derek growled, meeting Noah’s panicked eyes, “I don’t have a pack bond with him, I don’t know what’s happened to him.”

“He’ll be fine.” Noah said confidently, they’d seen Stiles fight, whatever happened they knew he could handle himself.

As soon as they were outside Derek started following the bond he had with Danny and Jackson, running into the preserve, somehow knowing that they weren’t that far away, within five minutes he could hear their heartbeats, ignoring the swelling panic he felt when there were only two heartbeats ahead of him. It didn’t mean anything, maybe Stiles had taken a different route back to the house, maybe he’d stayed with the car, or run on ahead and they’d passed him somehow. There were a hundred different scenario’s, two heartbeats did not mean that Stiles was dead, it did not mean that he’d see Jackson carrying Stiles’ body, Stiles was fine. He’d survived so much, they wouldn’t lose him now. 

“Derek!” Jackson called out in relief as he saw his Alpha and the rest of the wolves appearing through the trees ahead of them, he relaxed his grip on Danny slightly, lowering him down to the ground from his back and letting Danny lean heavily on him, then Ethan was running towards them, examining Danny with worry in his eyes, checking his injuries, already beginning to drain the pain from his boyfriend as he whispered reassurances to him. 

“What happened?” Derek asked, checking Jackson over himself until Lydia arrived, knowing that Ethan would make sure that Danny was okay. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Jackson insisted, “There was another pack, they attacked us.” 

“Stiles?” Noah asked, his voice coming out as a choked whimper and Jackson looked at him guiltily. 

“He tried to stop them.” Jackson said, “They took him.” 

“Took him?” Derek growled, “What happened?”

“They followed us from the store and Stiles saw them and told us and we were just debating what to do when another van pulled out in front of us, we hit it.” Jackson began. 

“It’s all my fault.” Danny sobbed, “I’m so sorry Derek. I, they,” Danny tried to take a steadying breath to explain what had happened when the humans finally caught up with them and Lydia rushed to Jackson, checking him over before deciding he was okay. 

“Danny, it’s okay.” Ethan mumbled, “You didn’t mean to crash the car, they planned it.” 

“I know.” Danny said, straightening up and looking Derek in the eye, “I got out of the car and one of the other wolves grabbed me. Up until then Jackson and Stiles had put up a fight. Stiles had killed two of their pack. Once the wolf had me by the throat, he forced them to stand down, Stiles let go of his knife. Then they broke his arm.”

“They what?” Derek snarled. 

“They knew who he was Derek, they called him The Kid, they said their Alpha wanted to meet him. They handcuffed him in the back of the van, the guy in charge, Kev, he was going to kill us but Stiles managed to convince him to let us go.” Jackson continued.

“Alright, Ethan, Melissa and Braeden, take Danny back to the house, make sure he’s okay, Jackson, can you take us back to where you crashed?” Derek instructed and Jackson nodded quickly. “Lydia, you, Kira, Allison and Chris head back to the cars, meet us out on the main road, we might need the cars instead. Danny, I can see you want to argue you’re fine, but you’re not. Get checked out, we’ll get Stiles.” Danny shut his mouth, looking upset but nodding firmly as Ethan led him back towards the house. 

Jackson led them back through the preserve, running faster now he wasn’t carrying Danny and there were no humans with them. They came out on the road and Derek surveyed the damage, Danny’s car was a write off, there was no doubt about it, the van they’d hit was still lying on its side across the road, they were lucky nobody else had come this way yet, he could hear approaching vehicles and knew that it was the humans of his pack approaching, they pulled up on the other side of the overturned van and ran around to meet the rest of the pack. 

“Did you see which way the van went?” Noah asked Jackson who indicated the opposite direction, Derek tried not to panic, tried not to think of Stiles handcuffed in the back of a van with a broken arm and god knows what else they might have done to him in the time it had taken for them to get here. 

Derek didn’t know what to do, he had to find Stiles but he didn’t even know where to start, the plan that made the most sense would be to split up in the different cars and take different routes, the first to find the van would then call the rest for backup. That made sense, that’s what they would have to do. He turned to address his pack, about to tell them what his plan was when he heard another vehicle approaching from the direction that Jackson had pointed. 

They all stilled and watched as a wagon appeared in the distance, it started to slow down before eventually coming to a stop a couple of hundred meters away from the destroyed cars and the pack. Derek could only watch in amazement as the passenger door opened and he saw Stiles climb out, calling out a thanks to the driver before he started to make his way back towards the pack. 

“Stiles!” Noah called out in disbelief, rushing towards him and pulling him into a tight hug, Stiles grimacing slightly as his arm was jostled as Noah apologising profusely as he let go of him. “What happened? Are you okay?” Noah asked, looking his son up and down for signs of any other injuries, noticing the cut at the side of his head, the bruise forming at his temple, the split lip, the broken arm and deep cuts around his wrists from the handcuffs. Stiles glanced back at the wagon, waving again at the driver to indicate everything was fine before the driver slowly started to pull away again, honking his horn loudly at Stiles as he left. 

“Who the hell was that?” Isaac asked and Stiles shrugged, jumping in surprise when Jackson moved forward, hugging him tightly and checking Stiles’ injuries for himself. Stiles just stared at him in confusion.

“You’re wearing a different jumper.” He started and Stiles raised an eyebrow in surprise that he’d noticed.

“I needed to cover the blood if I wanted any chance of getting a lift back out here.” Stiles explained.

“You are the biggest fucking idiot in the world.” Jackson snapped before his eyes softened, “But, thank you, they would have killed Danny if you hadn’t…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Stiles replied, placing a hand on Jackson’s shoulder reassuringly, “Is Danny alright?” 

“He’s back at the house.” Boyd informed him. 

“Okay.” Stiles said, moving towards the destroyed car and pulling out some of the shopping bags. 

“What are you doing?” Scott asked in confusion. 

“I figure you still want the groceries, right?” Stiles asked and Derek let out a laugh of disbelief, Stiles turning to look at him oddly, but, really, Derek had been terrified, completely and utterly terrified, and then Stiles had not only reappeared, but proceeded to go and get the shopping out of the car like this was completely normal. It was a laugh of pure relief, relief that Stiles was okay, relief that he was here and he was safe. Noah let out a chuckle from next to him and then suddenly the whole pack had burst into laughter, Stiles just looking at them all like they’d lost the plot. 

“What happened to the other pack?” Peter asked eventually and Stiles shrugged. 

“They won’t be coming back.” He replied. 

“Did you kill them?” Scott queried sounding more than a little suspicious, Stiles rolled his eyes.

“No.” Stiles told them, “Well, other than the two here.” He amended, he could see that they were all waiting for the rest of the story and he frowned, “I’ll tell you later, I need to speak to Danny first.” Derek wanted to know why, what was so important that Stiles needed to talk to Danny before he could tell them what happened, but he wasn’t going to push, Stiles said he would tell them, he just had to be patient. 

Between them they managed to get the van back on all four wheels, they hooked Danny’s car up to the back of Chris’ car and towed it back to the house, the groceries piled into the various cars and left the van behind, Noah said he’d get someone out to tow it away later. 

As soon as they pulled up at the house Ethan, Melissa, Danny and Braeden rushed out of the house, when Danny saw Stiles was with them he raced forward, pulling him into a tight hug and apologising over and over again even as Stiles told him it was fine, he was fine, it wasn’t Danny’s fault. Derek wasn’t going to get jealous that he hadn’t got to hug Stiles like that, he wasn’t. 

Once they finally broke apart Stiles moved towards Ethan, pulling Danny with him. 

“Ethan, claws.” Stiles said and they all looked at him in confusion as Ethan held his claws out and Stiles grabbed his hand, putting it around his own throat and holding it there when Ethan tried to pull away. “Watch.” Stiles said to Danny, lifting his good arm up and putting a hand on Ethan’s arm, “You pull on his arm, werewolves count on their strength, he knows you won’t be able to break the grip, but they expect you to try, it’s survival instinct.” Stiles explained and Danny’s eyes went round, as did the rest of the pack, “You have to use surprise. Tighten your grip.” Stiles said to Ethan and he did, looking at Stiles with worry as his claws almost broke the skin. Stiles kept his hand on Ethan’s arm, attempting to pull his hand away from his throat, then, in a movement so quick they almost missed it, Stiles pulled a knife from the back of his jeans, stabbed it into Ethan’s arm, Ethan reared backwards in surprise and Stiles pressed his advantage, moving forwards until the knife was pressed to Ethan’s neck. “He’ll heal, you won’t. Next time, don’t hesitate, there’s nothing wrong with being afraid, but, inaction will get you killed.”

There was a shocked silence until Ethan cleared his throat and looked at the already healed wound on his arm. 

“Did you really need to stab me dude?” He whined and Stiles grinned. 

“Probably not.” He teased and Ethan laughed, pulling him into his shoulder gently. 

“Good lesson though, you’re going to teach him more, right? Make sure he can protect himself?” Ethan queried and Danny looked at him hopefully, Stiles paused for a moment, obviously seriously considering it before he nodded and Danny grinned at him. 

“You can train the rest of us while you’re at it.” Chris said and Stiles frowned, glancing at Derek. 

“Just the humans for now if that makes you feel more comfortable with that? Maybe the wolves when you feel a little more confident?” Derek suggested.

“I’d rather start with the people that can heal quickly.” Stiles joked and Derek grinned at him. 

“Well, we can be around, you know, for demonstrations?” Derek asked and Stiles nodded.

“That’d would probably be a good idea.” Stiles agreed, “I should call Deaton and tell him I’m going to be late.” 

“You’re not going anywhere.” Melissa said, examining him carefully, “What happened to not getting kidnapped when we got home?” She scolded. 

“Does it really count as kidnap if I escaped and came back here before you guys could even start looking for me?” Stiles joked and Melissa slapped his chest playfully. 

“Yes, it damn well does and you know that. Now, come inside, let’s get these injuries seen to and then you can tell us what the hell happened.” Melissa informed him, tugging him towards the house and sitting him down in the living room. Stiles struggled a little bit getting the jumper off, his t-shirt was covered in blood, Noah could smell that not all of it was Stiles’ and that was the only thing that kept him from wolfing out. His arm was black and blue from where his bone had been snapped, the instant Noah saw it he rushed forward and started draining the pain from him and Stiles gave him a small smile to say thank you, Derek wished it had been him that Stiles was smiling at, but, Stiles had spoken to him earlier and not glared at him, that was progress. 

Melissa cut his long-sleeved t-shirt up his arm, then grimaced at the sight of his arm and told him they’d have to take him to the hospital to fix it, Stiles said it was fine, he’d dealt with broken bones before and never had to go to a hospital then, Derek hated how Stiles’ heartbeat remained steady as he said that, it reminded him that Stiles had gone through horrific things in the past few years and none of them even knew half of them. 

“Stiles?” Melissa sounded worried, “What is that?” She pointed to the line of his t-shirt where she’d cut the arm open, Stiles followed her gaze and blushed, slapping his other hand over it as Noah stared at him in amazement, slowly pulling his fingers away. 

“Is that… that’s a tattoo… of a wolf… it looks just like me…” Noah muttered, jumping backwards when the wolf stepped forwards slightly, moving down Stiles’ arm. “Did that just… it just moved.” Noah whispered in awe as the rest of the pack crowded in around him and Stiles blushed at the sudden scrutiny. 

“Hey, go away.” Stiles said, prodding at the wolf until it disappeared back under his shirt and they all looked at him in shock. 

“You have a tattoo that moves.” Erica said and Stiles rolled his eyes. “How?” 

“Not a clue. He just shows up at the most random moments.” Stiles scowled, pulling his shirt up to show them all how the wolf melted back into his skin as the spirals. “Magic I guess?” 

“Has it… have there been other… wolves?” Allison asked quietly and Stiles shook his head. 

“Nah, just dad. But, I did have rain the other day, there was like a storm cloud and the rain was falling, it was kind of cool.” He muttered. 

“Your tattoos move, that’s so fucking awesome dude. Can you get them to do what you want?” Scott asked in excitement and Stiles gave him a small fond smile before he schooled his features into a frown. 

“Nope. They do want they want, maybe when I have more control over my magic I’ll be able to get them to behave. But, for now, I guess it’s even more of a reason to leave my shirt on.” He joked but it sounded forced. Melissa continued her examination of him, trying to keep her emotions at bay, trying to see Stiles as just another patient and not Stiles, not the boy she had known since he was four years old, not the boy who she had patched up numerous times over the years, not the boy who she had watched grow, watched him go through so much and always keep going, never quitting. She couldn’t think about all that now, he was just another patient. 

She was worried about the bump on Stiles’ head, there was a cut and lump near the back of his head and another near the top where blood had obviously run down his face, but there was bruising around his temple too, she was worried about the kind of injury he had sustained, worried that it had to be quite severe to had bruising spread over such a huge area. Danny at least had only a mild concussion, a sprained wrist and the cuts on his neck, he seemed to have gotten off lightly, Jackson had healed before they’d even got back. It just meant that Stiles, of course it was always Stiles, seemed to have serious injuries, although she wasn’t sure what was from the crash and what was from the other pack. 

“Is your eyesight blurred at all?” She asked.

“No, it was earlier, but it’s fine now.” Stiles replied, not wanting to shake his head because it actually kind of hurt at the moment. 

“Did you hit your head in the crash?” She queried.

“Yeah, the top.” Stiles reached up to touch the small cut at his hairline. 

“Not the back? Or the side?” 

“No. That was after.” Stiles explained. 

“With the other pack?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Did they hit you in the back of the head and the side or was it only one hit?” 

“No, they hit me a couple of times.” Stiles admitted, either ignorant or ignoring the growls coming from the wolves. 

“What happened?” Noah asked, “Why did their Alpha want to talk to you? Or did they just want to beat you up some more?” He tried to keep his voice light but he knew he failed at that, the idea that someone had hurt his son, again, it made his wolf snarl in anger. Stiles sat in silence for a moment as Melissa pressed a small pad to the back of his head and taped it in place, it was obvious he was trying to figure out how to explain and Noah wasn’t going to press him. 

“Their Alpha wanted me as their emissary,” Stiles began, ignoring the wolves, “Apparently, he was at the arena the night I got out and he felt my magic. He’s been trying to find me and the other day he got a tip off, where I was staying, they put a plan in place.” 

“So they crashed the car to get to you?” Danny asked and Stiles gave a small nod, wincing slightly when Melissa shone a light into his eyes. 

“Looks like you have a concussion.” She mumbled and Stiles shrugged, it kind of felt like he did have one, he definitely felt dizzy even if his vision wasn’t blurred any more, he also felt a little sick, but that could have been for a number of reasons. He knew how concussions felt though, he also knew how to carry on, to keep moving even when his brain felt like it was rattling around in his skull, it was like he’d said to Danny, it was okay to be afraid but inaction would get him killed. 

“What happened after they took you?” Jackson asked and Stiles sighed heavily, closing his eyes for a minute to stop the room from spinning and then starting to talk before he even opened his eyes.

“They’d handcuffed me in the back of the van, we drove, not far, only five minutes maybe ten, they opened the van and the Alpha and the rest of the pack were there.”

“On Hale territory?” Peter snarled and Stiles shrugged.

“I guess so? So the Alpha explained that he wanted me as his emissary, that we could work great together etc etc, I said thanks but no thanks, there was some shouting about the fact I’d killed two of his pack and I couldn’t be offered the position of emissary, lots more blah blah and then a fight broke out and I used that opportunity to get free and get my knife.”

“Okay, one, how did you get free? And two, I thought Jackson said you dropped your knife?” Kira asked. 

“Like I was actually only carrying one knife.” Stiles snorted quietly, glad that his eyes were still closed so he didn’t have to see the looks of disappointment on their faces. “I may have kept two on me, just in case of an emergency.” 

“But you only pulled one at the car?” Danny queried.

“I told you, you have to use surprise, otherwise there’s no chance. I figured some shit was going to go down, you were hurt, Jackson was recovering, I could have taken them all out, but, not before one of them got to you. It made sense to keep one weapon hidden, I figured I was going to need the surprise at some point.” 

“How could you think all of that in the whole like thirty seconds between the crash and them attacking us?” Jackson said in shock. 

“I’ve had to think a lot faster than that in the past, anyway, back to the story, so, I got free, pulled a knife, attacked the Alpha, basically threatened to kill him and his entire pack if he didn’t leave and they decided it was a better option to go. Grabbed a jumper from a nearby washing line, flagged a lift and came back here.” Stiles explained quickly. 

“How did you get free?” Lydia asked, knowing Stiles hadn’t answered that question yet. 

“Erm, well, the bar that they handcuffed me to, they put my hands around the bar, not just handcuffing one hand to it, the bars in those kinds of vans are notorious for being unreliable and not being able to support any kind of weight. If they’d handcuffed me with one hand to the bar it probably wouldn’t have worked, but, as it happened, I could wrap my hands around one of the support bars, wait until they were distracted, put my feet against the side of the van and pull.”

“That’s why the cuts are so deep.” Melissa frowned. 

“Yeah, I guess so.” Stiles replied casually. 

“So, they’re not going to come back?” Scott asked, “Definitely?” 

“Definitely.” Stiles confirmed, “I can make a pretty convincing threat every now and again.” He sighed wearily. 

“I’m glad you didn’t accept their offer.” Isaac blurted out and Stiles opened his eyes to actually look at him, surprised to find that the rest of the pack were nodding their heads in agreement, except for Braeden, but, he wasn’t exactly surprised by that. 

“Please,” Stiles scoffed, “As if I’d have joined a pack that didn’t even bother to frisk me for weapons. Even when they said they’d seen me fight. Idiots.” Stiles hadn’t been expecting the several laughs he heard but he was definitely glad about it. He didn’t want the pack to be awkward about anything, alright, so Stiles hadn’t exactly kept it a secret that he wasn’t happy with Derek or Scott but he couldn’t explain to the rest of them why, he didn’t want to tear the pack apart and he knew that if they knew of Scott and Derek’s betrayal then things would fall apart. His dad would probably kill them or at least attempt to, Stiles didn’t want that, so he’d just have to do better at pretending that things were okay, but he couldn’t ever forget, couldn’t ever fall for their tricks again, he knew the truth, he wouldn’t allow himself to fall for it again, wouldn’t allow himself to fall for their faked emotions again.

“You know, we’re in need of an emissary.” Peter said and Stiles jerked his eyes open. 

“No.” He said firmly. 

“If it’s because you’re worried about your magic, you know, not having control all the time, then, don’t worry, you’ll learn.” Cora offered. 

“No.” Stiles repeated. 

“Stiles, why not?” Noah asked, “I mean, it’d be a good way to make sure nobody else wants you as their emissary, make sure there’s no repeats of today, and it would bind you to the pack which would be a good thing.”

“It doesn’t bind me to the pack.” Stiles said angrily. 

“It binds you to the Alpha.” Derek said quietly, almost guiltily and Stiles nodded firmly ignoring the pained expression on Derek’s face, Derek didn’t care about Stiles, he’d proved that before. “Stiles,” Derek blew out his breath, sounding more broken than Stiles had ever heard before but he wouldn’t feel guilty about it, he wouldn’t tell everyone what Scott and Derek had done but he wouldn’t forgive them, he wouldn’t fall for it again. 

“Who tipped them off?” Braeden interrupted and Stiles was actually grateful for the interruption, glad to look away from Derek, glad to pretend that Derek hadn’t looked crushed by Stiles’ blatant rejection of him. 

“Right, yeah, Danny.” Stiles said turning to him, “If I gave you an email address, could you like track it? See if it has been used recently or where or whatever?” 

“Erm, I guess there’s probably a way I can do it.” Danny agreed evidently confused. “What’s this got to do with the tip off?” Stiles shifted uncomfortably as Melissa finally finished bandaging him up, she was still looking at his arm with concern and he rolled his eyes, grabbing a splint from the first aid kit and taping it to his arm quickly. 

“I’ll go to the hospital in a bit, okay?” He compromised and Melissa nodded although she didn’t look happy. “Okay, so, long story short, when I was, taken,” He grimaced at that word and the rest of the pack growled quietly, “there were two hunters, they took me down to Mexico, they both worked at the arena’s when they weren’t busy with Gerard, during the escape I killed John, one of them, the other Robin, he wasn’t there, he’d gone on holiday when Marcus was in charge and he hadn’t come back by the time we blew it up. The Alpha said Robin had been the one to tip him off, told him that I’d likely come home, to where they took me from. Then all they had to do was wait until they saw me and go from there.” 

“And the email address links to this?” 

“It’s Robin’s. I, erm, I saw it, when they were holding me at the beginning.” 

“And you remember it like two years on!?” Aiden said in shock and Stiles shrugged, trying to remain as casual as possible, not let them know that he had spent every hour of every day staring at that email account, praying that today would be the day, no, he couldn’t think like that. He couldn’t think about that time, it didn’t change anything. 

“Well, sure, I can give it my best shot.” Danny said, “Although, there’s no guarantee that he’d still be using it or anything like that?” 

“I know.” Stiles admitted. 

“Okay, well, let’s take you to the hospital then, we need to get that arm looked at.” Noah said when there was a moment’s silence and Stiles nodded, quickly jotting down the email address and giving it to Danny before he made his way towards his father’s car, ignoring the pounding in his head and the fact he could feel his pulse beating in his arm. 

They spent five hours in the hospital for Stiles to be told that he had a concussion and his arm was broken, he tried not to roll his eyes at that, he knew that already, what he needed now was a cast to keep his dad happy and then to get the hell out of there.


	16. Chapter 16

His dad had been silent the entire time and Stiles wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not, he felt a little uncomfortable with the silence but he’d already talked so much today, it was kind of hard to adjust to, he’d spent so long not speaking, he was still trying to remind himself that he wouldn’t get a beating just for opening his mouth. 

“Why don’t you want to bind yourself to Derek?” Noah said out of the blue when they were driving home and Stiles turned to look at him incredulously, his mouth hanging open in shock, “I’m just trying to figure it out Stiles, it’s obvious that you’re annoyed at Scott and Derek, you’ve barely spoken to either of them since we found you. I’m just, I’m trying to make sense of it, why are you mad at them? What did they do?” 

“They didn’t do anything dad.” Stiles replied, hoping to ease his dad’s concerns, “It’s my problem, I’m trying, I’m trying to get over it. They didn’t do anything.” He replied honestly, he was telling the truth and he knew his dad would hear it, Stiles wasn’t lying, they didn’t do anything and that was precisely the problem, they’d left him there, they hadn’t done anything!

“Well, maybe cut them a bit of slack then? I’m not saying bind yourself to Derek as the emissary, but, maybe don’t be so hard on them?” 

“I’ll try dad.” Stiles replied solemnly, wanting to get the hell out of the car and away from this conversation as quick as he could. 

He’d gone to his bedroom as soon as they got back, telling Melissa he wasn’t hungry as he hurried up the stairs and shut the door, allowing himself to slide down the back of the door and wrap his arms around his knees. How the hell was he supposed to do this? How was he supposed to forgive them? Act like he could trust them? When they’d betrayed him so badly? He just couldn’t be here right now, he needed to get away, needed space and time to clear his head, he felt like he was on the verge of completely falling apart which he hadn’t done in so long, he’d never had the option to fall apart before, he’d had to just keep going. It all felt like too much. 

He couldn’t stop the tears that slipped from his eyes against his will and he let out a grunt of anger, swiping at them furiously before getting to his feet and pacing around the room, trying to take his mind off the thoughts of Scott’s betrayal, tried not to think about being trapped in that room and waiting hopefully for Derek to come. He wasn’t that person any more, he protected himself, he looked after himself, he didn’t wait for anyone to rescue him, no knight to ride in on a white horse, or werewolf in a leather jacket, no, it was up to him, he could only ever trust himself.

It took him a few minutes to get himself back under control, mainly by picking his swords up from the side and strapping them on, feeling lots better when he could feel their solid weight at his back. This was who he was now, a fighter, a gladiator, a champion, he didn’t rely on anyone and he didn’t care about anyone and he only had to think about his next fight and how to take down his next opponent. He could feel magic building up under his skin, like the warmth you got when you stood too close to a fire, he knew it was only a matter of time before it got worse and he frowned, he needed to burn off some energy but he was also exhausted and his head hurt and he didn’t want to go for a run, he paced around the room, trying to figure out what he should do and ignore the way that the warmth was quickly beginning to be a burning that was starting to hurt. He grabbed the jar that Deaton had given him and poured a circle around himself, settling to the floors with his knees crossed and trying to slow his breathing, trying to meditate as best he could and get his magic under control. 

Within half an hour he realised a few things, one, the contents of his room were shaking, not violently, not yet, but, everything in the room was almost trembling and it terrified Stiles, two, the magic under his skin was burning him, it hurt so much that he couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t think straight never mind meditate, and three, if he didn’t try something else soon he was sure he was going to combust. 

He got to his feet, staggering slightly as the concussion made itself known, the door was only a few feet in front of him but it felt like it was a mile away, he took a step forward, he had to cool down, that was the only thought running through his mind right now, that, maybe, if he could get to the bathroom and throw himself under a stream of cold water, it might just take the edge off. He grabbed hold of the door handle, ignoring the way that everything in his room was now floating a few inches off the floor, he felt like he was about to collapse, that the magic was going to burn its way through him and he’d never make it to the bathroom. He pulled the door open with all the strength he had, slightly surprised when it ripped from its hinges and flew part way across the room, he couldn’t think about that right now though, he needed to get to the bathroom, his breath was coming out in harsh gasps as he tried to rein the magic in, he just needed to shove it down, control it, just for a little bit longer. 

“Stiles!?” Someone was shouting up the stairs, he wasn’t sure who it was, couldn’t really even process the voice, he just had to get to the shower, had to do something. He could see someone running towards him, he knew he should recognize them but he couldn’t put a name to their face, all he could think was how much it hurt. 

“What’s going on!?” Someone else was shouting sounding panicked, as strong arms grabbed Stiles under his armpits and kept him upright when his knees buckled. 

“Bathroom.” Stiles panted quietly, hoping someone heard him as everything started to take on a hint of gold. 

“You heard him!” A voice shouted and then suddenly he was being lifted from the floor and carried towards the bathroom. “What now?” Stiles didn’t feel like he had any strength left to fight, the magic was tearing its way through his system, he felt like he was about to burst into flames, he tried to pull his shirt off, knowing he needed to cool down, ignoring the hands that were wrapped around his waist to keep him upright. 

“Stiles! What are you doing? Stop wriggling!” Someone was saying, the voice was close to his ear, he assumed it was whoever was holding him upright, but he couldn’t think about that, he was practically delirious with pain now, he needed to get in the shower, he pushed at the hands holding him, stumbled towards the shower, his legs giving out as he stepped into the cubicle, he felt the person behind him catch him and he was kind of grateful for that, otherwise he probably would have smacked his head into the wall and he really didn’t need another concussion. 

“Need…cold…too hot.” Stiles managed to pant from the floor, ignoring the wall of muscle behind him as someone reached above them and suddenly cold water was rushing downwards, Stiles letting out a sigh of relief as it hit his skin and he felt the burning lessen just slightly. He closed his eyes, resting for just a moment, the sheer exhaustion overpowering him and he didn’t have the strength or even desire to fight any more. 

“Is it working?” Noah mumbled from nearby and Stiles opened his eyes blearily, finally recognising that it was his dad standing in the doorway of the shower, looking at him with wide eyes, the rest of the pack hovering in the bathroom doorway, he must have really worried all of them. A sudden bolt of pain ran through his body and Stiles arched backwards, letting out a little gasp of pain, gritting his teeth and trying to stop himself from screaming. 

“What’s happening?” Scott sounded terrified, “We should take him to Deaton’s, he might be able to help.” Stiles wanted to say no, wanted to argue that if he left the shower he was going to burn long before they made it to Deaton’s. 

“Fuck.” A voice whispered from behind him and Stiles realised suddenly that Derek was the one holding him up, the one that had stopped him from smacking into the wall and the one that had his arms wrapped around Stiles while they sat on the floor of the shower and the cold water beat down on them. “Call Deaton. Get him here now!” Derek ordered but he sounded panicked. 

“What’s… oh god.” Noah’s voice trailed off as he saw the hole that was burning through Stiles’ t-shirt, the edges darkening as is grew, it looked like Stiles was burning from the inside out. 

“Stiles!” Derek sounded terrified, if Stiles was in his right mind he would probably think that it almost sounded like the guy cared, Stiles felt another rush of heat gather in his chest, he didn’t think he could get any hotter but it just seemed to be building, seemed to be getting worse. “Stiles, listen to me, you have to let it out, okay? Just let go of the magic, you can’t hold it in, let go. Scott, call Deaton!” He demanded when Scott hadn’t moved, instead staring at the barely conscious Stiles lying in the bottom of the shower, his eyes shining gold and his t-shirt burning, the hole getting large by the second as Stiles gritted his teeth and arched up as agony washed through him, Derek tightening his grip in an attempt to keep Stiles as still as possible, keep him from hurting himself. 

Stiles’ hands clenched into fists as he felt another wave of pain rock through him and then he was screaming, he couldn’t hold it back any longer, the pain was just too much, everything seemed to still for just a moment, as if all the air had been sucked out of the room and then there was a great gust of power, blasting out of Stiles and hitting the pack, making them double over in shock. 

Stiles blinked slowly, glad that the gold tint had left his vision now, he was coming back to awareness, could feel the cold water hitting his bare chest, he looked down at the hole burned there, glad that there was some kind of evidence, that he hadn’t just imagined that it felt like he was on fire. He shifted slightly and felt the arms still around him tense, glanced over his shoulder at Derek who was holding him tightly, taking deep breaths as if trying to calm himself and, when he opened his eyes, they were glowing bright red. Derek met his gaze and relaxed his grip slowly, as if it was taking all off his concentration to let go of Stiles, before he blinked again and his eyes faded back to their normal green. 

“Are you okay?” Derek growled and Stiles nodded, surprised when his head didn’t hurt, he reached upwards to touch his head and huffed out a little laugh when his arm moved easily, no longer broken. He’d somehow managed to heal himself in amidst all the burning and pain. He glanced around at the rest of the pack, all of them looking at him with glowing eyes and something akin to awe on their faces. 

“What happened?” Stiles grumbled, doing his best to get to his feet without touching Derek who looked almost pained at the sudden loss of contact, Stiles ignored whatever the hell was going on with him.

“What did you do?” Peter asked and Stiles wasn’t sure what he was talking about, he hadn’t done anything, had he? He’d been burning, it felt like he was about to explode and then he’d heard Derek telling him to let go and then, well, he may have blacked out for a second, it was like a huge rush of power leaving him, he gasped.

“Are you guys okay? Did it hurt you? Did I hurt you?” 

“No.” Noah laughed, pulling Stiles into a tight hug that made is bones creak until Noah pulled away looking apologetic, “I don’t know what you did Stiles, but, right now, I feel like I have so much energy that I could run straight across the country without taking a break, like I could jump a hundred feet high, like I could do anything I set my mind too.” He explained. 

“Glad to know it’s not just me.” Jackson said, letting out a shaky laugh as Stiles stared at them in shock, it was as if he’d pushed the energy from his magic out and into them, he should probably be happy about it, but he felt exhausted, his fingers were shaking and he clenched his hands into fists so that nobody would see them, his legs felt like jelly and he was almost certain that the only reason he was still on his feet was because he was leaning against the shower. 

“I don’t know what you did, or how you did it,” Lydia began, “But, somehow, I think you transferred the energy into us, how do you feel?” She asked and Stiles shrugged. 

“Tired.” He admitted honestly. 

“It probably took a lot out of you.” Kira agreed, “Scott, you should call Deaton still, get him to come over here and check Stiles out, make sure he’s okay?”

“I’m fine.” Stiles replied, “Just tired, I think I need to sleep for a bit, then I’ll be fine, you guys go, do something or whatever.” He said, wobbling slightly as he made his way out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom, wincing guiltily when he saw the door lying in the middle of the bedroom. “Sorry.” He said, not really sure who he was apologising too, watching as Derek walked straight to the door, picked it up and carried it to the doorframe with ease. 

“It’ll take a little bit of work but I’m sure we can get it rehung for you in no time.” Derek replied, not looking at Stiles and instead studying the broken door with more intensity than it probably required, the moment he’d been hit with the power from Stiles everything had gone into overdrive, he felt stronger, more powerful, his senses felt massively heightened and all he could breathe in was Stiles. It took every ounce of self-control he had to be able to let go of Stiles, to get his wolf back under control and not hold onto Stiles for as long and hard as he could. He wasn’t sure he’d ever felt so energised, so powerful, and it was down to Stiles, Stiles who looked exhausted and worn out and despite his best efforts to hide it, was trembling with exertion from just walking to his bedroom. 

“Do you feel okay magic wise now?” Aiden asked, “You don’t feel like you’re about to burn up?” 

“No. I’m okay, just tired.” Stiles admitted, “And, kind of want to get this stupid cast off.” He sighed indicating his now healed arm. 

“It’s good that you managed to heal yourself though.” Scott said, “I mean, I know you didn’t mean to do that, but, still, you’ve healed which is great news.” 

“Yeah I guess so.” Stiles agreed, stumbling slightly towards his chest of drawers to grab some dry clothes, trying not to feel pathetic when his dad grabbed hold of his arm to stop him from falling. Noah pulled out a dry t-shirt and a pair of joggers and handed them to Stiles with a stern look on his face.

“You need to rest.” Noah scolded even as Stiles nodded in agreement, making his way towards the wall by the window where the sheets were, ignoring the way everyone seemed to wince at the sight. “No. Properly rest Stiles.” Noah said, manhandling Stiles towards the bed who was too exhausted to put up any kind of fight, he was practically asleep on his feet, Noah climbed into the bed with him and curled around him, “Go to sleep.” 

“s’not safe.” Stiles slurred, trying to keep his eyes open. “Can’t sleep, s’not safe.”

“It’s fine. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Noah muttered quietly as Stiles lost the battle and drifted into sleep. 

“What does he mean it’s not safe?” Lydia whispered quietly from the doorway where the rest of the pack still stood watching. Nobody had a good answer, all of them watching the sleeping teen with worry until finally Derek moved towards the door, indicating the rest of the pack to follow him and leave Stiles in peace. 

Derek felt like he was vibrating in place, he had more energy than he’d ever felt before and his wolf wanted to run, well, that wasn’t true, it wanted to go back upstairs and crawl into bed with Stiles, but that wasn’t going to happen, so, instead, he decided that a run was necessary. He could see the humans in the pack were feeling just as powered up and within minutes they were all out of the house and running through the preserve after having told Noah that they wouldn’t be long. 

When Derek shifted it took him a few minutes to adjust, usually he was a lot lower to the ground, somehow, and he assumed it was to do with the power from Stiles, every wolf was suddenly four times the size they were usually, Derek was closer to the size of a fully grown brown bear, the length of his strides so much longer than usual that he practically crossed the garden in three strides as the rest of the wolves followed after him yipping in excitement and the humans grinned widely as they started to run. 

They returned to the house hours later, longer than Derek had originally planned but they hadn’t been able to resist the urge to run, especially as everything was so new and exciting at this size, Derek had cleared a gorge that he’d only ever dreamed of doing before, Peter had managed to topple a tree by slamming his shoulder into it, Ethan had leaped upwards and landed in the top branches of a tree before they cracked under his weight and he toppled back to the ground as Danny laughed loudly and brightly. 

Noah and Stiles were still upstairs, he could hear Stiles’ even breathing and Noah shifting slightly in the bed as he listened to the sound of the pack returning. Derek probably shouldn’t admit that he liked the fact Stiles’ room wasn’t soundproofed any more, that he could sit down here and listen to the solid beating of his heart without having to press his ear to Stiles’ door, not that he’d ever done that, or more accurately, not that anyone had ever caught him doing that. 

Noah whispered that he didn’t want to leave Stiles alone but could someone please come and take his place because if he didn’t go for a run soon he was going to lose his mind, Derek glanced around the room, he wanted to be the one to cuddle up to Stiles, but he knew Stiles wouldn’t want that and he looked around at his pack to see who would be acceptable, who would Stiles not be annoyed at if he woke up with them in his bed? It was then he realised that Stiles was fine with everyone, he even got on with Peter, it was just Scott and Derek that he had a problem with. Derek could understand why Stiles blamed him, he was the Alpha, Derek should have realised Stiles was alive, he should have found him, he should have done something. What he couldn’t make sense of was why Stiles was mad at Scott, maybe it was because Scott, as Stiles’ best friend, should have known too, whatever the reason, there was no doubt in his mind that Stiles had an issue with just the two of them. 

He could see the same realisation on Scott’s face, see the same pain in his features as he realised that Stiles wouldn’t want him there, he winced in sympathy. 

“I’ll go.” Jackson said quickly, breaking the tension slightly, “Danny, come on.” Danny looked at him in confusion for a moment before shrugging, letting go of Ethan’s hand and following him up the stairs. Noah came down a few minute later, giving Melissa a quick peck on the cheek before dashing out of the house and running out into the preserve. 

By the time everyone was thinking about heading to bed there was still no sign of life from Stiles, Lydia and Ethan had gone upstairs and rather than going to their own rooms had squeezed into the bed next to their partners, Stiles almost buried in between them all. Derek stood in the doorway watching silently, not really surprised when Erica dragged Boyd into the room and climbed onto the bottom of the bed, there wasn’t really any room left but it didn’t stop Aiden and Cora appearing with a mattress and shoving it down next to Stiles’ bed, after that it was a free for all, Isaac and Allison came next, then Noah and Melissa, Scott and Kira, even Peter squeezed onto the mattress next to Isaac. Chris arrived at the house about ten minutes after that, apparently at Allison’s request and he didn’t even hesitate before finding a free spot and lying down with the pack, barely even muttering a hello to Derek. In fact, the only person missing now was Braeden. 

He headed down the hallway and found her in their bedroom, changing for bed and looking up to meet Derek’s eyes. 

“Everything okay?” She asked casually. 

“Yeah, um, the pack are sleeping in Stiles’ room tonight.” He replied, any energy he felt earlier had vanished, he was exhausted and he wanted to be with his pack and he couldn’t deal with ending things with Braeden right now, he knew it would be a long talk, no doubt involving a lot of shouting and he didn’t want to wake the pack up, wake Stiles up. He’d have to wait. 

“Oh, okay, do you want us to join them?” Braeden asked and Derek nodded, it would feel so wrong that his pack would all be in one room and he wouldn’t be with them. “Okay, let’s do it then.” Braeden continued, but Derek could smell that she wasn’t exactly pleased about it. 

Stiles came back to awareness slowly, he was warm, so warm that he was sweating, but it wasn’t the same kind of heat as the magic burning under his skin, he could hear soft breathing coming from either side of him and suddenly he jolted upwards, wide awake and ready to defend himself. Except there was nothing to defend himself from, all he’d done was disturb some of the pack that were sleeping in, on and around his bed. Jackson mumbled slightly in his sleep, trying to tug Stiles back down into the bed while Stiles just stared at him in surprise. 

He glanced at the clock on the far wall, six in the morning, he’d slept for nearly twelve hours straight, that was impossible, he blinked thinking maybe he’d read the time wrong, but it was still showing six when he looked again, he pinched himself and felt the tiny sting of pain, okay, so he was awake, this was real. A few members of the pack were starting to stir and Stiles couldn’t process this, he’d slept through for the whole night and nothing bad had happened, he hadn’t been attacked in his sleep, he hadn’t woken up with claws to his throat or hands pinning him down. He’d slept for twelve hours and woke up safe and in the same place and nothing bad had happened. He couldn’t help the hysterical laugh that bubbled out of his mouth, waking up the rest of the pack as he pressed a hand to his mouth to try and silence himself but unable to stop the disbelieved chortle that shook his whole body.

“Stiles, are you okay?” Ethan was looking at him in confusion, obviously worried that Stiles had lost his mind. 

“Yeah.” Stiles grinned, wide awake and ready to take on the world, “I’m great.” He said, practically bouncing out of the bed and scrambling over everyone, “I’m awesome, I’m amazing, I’m fantastic, I’m so pumped right now.” He grinned, ignoring the way everyone looked at him in concern, “Do you know the last time I freaking slept for twelve hours!? In a bed!? Jesus, this is like, great, like, seriously, oh my god, I’m…I’m going to have to go outside now before I like explode, there’s just like, wow, so good.” Stiles rambled, running from the room as the others stared after him in surprise, listening to the back door open and shut and then Stiles’ excited heartbeat move towards the preserve. There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at each other in shock before everyone scrambled to their feet, laughing and chasing after Stiles. 

Stiles had two minutes head start on them but Derek could still hear his heartbeat racing ahead of him as soon as he stepped out into the garden, he didn’t bother shifting, instead just running after Stiles in his bed shorts and bare feet, the rest of the pack following after him in excitement, just for a moment it had been the old Stiles, the one who couldn’t control what came out of his mouth, who waved his hands around as he spoke, who had a grin that could blind you with its brilliance and a laugh that made Derek’s heart skip and his stomach flip. It was that laugh that he could hear as he chased after Stiles, unable to remove the own grin from his lips, hearing the rest of the pack’s laughs echo through the woods around him. 

He caught up with Stiles after a few more minutes, watched as he hurdled over trees and threw himself under fallen trees and never broke his stride, saw the exhilaration and enjoyment on Stiles’ face, it made his heart skip a beat, Stiles was beautiful, he was breath-taking and it made Derek’s chest ache, he wanted to see that smile on Stiles’ face every day. 

It wouldn’t last, he knew it wouldn’t, Stiles wasn’t just going to have one good night’s sleep and then be himself again, that wasn’t how life worked. He didn’t look as exhausted as he had done though and Derek counted that as a win, it was the most he could ask for at the moment, only time would heal the rest, maybe, if they were lucky. 

When Stiles came back down the stairs after his shower he looked tense, prepared for an attack at every moment, unable to let his guards down, it made Derek wince but he knew Stiles needed this to cope at the moment. They were all ready to go to school and Derek watched Stiles’ movements as he grabbed an apple from the side and moved towards the front door, Derek was almost certain that he would never be able to look away from Stiles again, he’d gone so long believing that he’d never see him again, to see him wandering around the house, chatting with the pack, he wasn’t sure he’d ever get over the wonder he felt every time he saw it. 

Stiles was quiet when they got home from school that afternoon but he actually sat downstairs and did his homework rather than locking himself in his room and he hoped that meant that Stiles was relaxing slightly. Derek had rather reluctantly fixed the door to Stiles’ room while they’d all been out at school, he would have preferred to leave it broken if it meant he could hear Stiles at all times, but, he knew Stiles needed privacy and he couldn’t deprive him of that. 

Noah arrived home after tea, running a hand through Stiles’ hair as he passed, ruffling his hair gently as Stiles glanced up at him and gave him a small smile before returning back to his homework. Almost an hour later Stiles finally stood up from the sofa, stretching his arms above his head and Derek tried not to stare as his t-shirt rode up slightly and exposed the pale skin there, Stiles finished stretching and moved towards the kitchen where most of the pack were sitting and Noah took a deep breath as if knowing whatever he was about to say was going to be hard.

“Stiles, can we talk?” Noah asked and Stiles paused in his tracks looking worried but he still nodded, leaning back against the kitchen counter as every eye turned to look at him. “Last night, when you were going to sleep, you said, you said it wasn’t safe. What did you mean?” Stiles flushed slightly, looking down at the floor rather than his father’s gaze, “I just, I wanted you to know, you’re safe here, with us, there’s no danger, unless there’s something you’re not telling us?” 

Stiles paused, yes there was something he wasn’t telling them, he wasn’t telling them what Scott and Derek had done, how they’d betrayed him and left him for dead. But he’d chosen not to tell them that in an effort to protect them, he wasn’t going to tell them now just because his dad asked, but, he had to tell them something, explain his actions in some way that would make sense to them, he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“In the rings,” He began, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze but clearly aware of how everyone had stilled at his words, “you can’t…it’s not safe…” He paused, thinking through what he wanted to say before trying again, “If you sleep properly you get hurt or you die. Sometimes from the guards, sometimes from the other gladiators. You can’t let your guard down, not ever, not even to rest. There were times, in the beginning, when I first arrived at the rings, I was too scared to sleep, but, eventually, exhaustion takes you, there’s only so long you can stay awake for, I fell asleep. I woke up with claws digging into my throat. The time after that it was to a vampire sucking blood from my arm. Eventually I learned not to ever slip into a deep sleep, that if I did it brought only pain and suffering. It’s not safe to sleep, not properly. You have to always be on your guard. Always be prepared.” There was silence when he finished speaking and when he finally looked up he could see tears in his father’s eyes and he couldn’t help the wave of guilt he felt at that sight. 

“Stiles,” Noah whimpered, sounding pained and Stiles met his eyes for a moment before he looked back to the floor, “I can’t…none of us can…” He paused, clearing his throat and trying again, “What you’ve been through, what you had to go through to survive, none of us can even begin to imagine it, but, you’re safe here, with us, we won’t let anything happen to you.” 

“I can’t do that either.” Stiles frowned, leaning against the counter, “I can’t rely on you, and not like, you personally, I mean, I can’t rely on anyone other than myself, I can’t. I want to. But,” He shook his head and pursed his lips before sighing heavily, “I want to believe you, but, I know, I know what happens when I let my guard down, when I trust someone else to watch my back.”

“It’ll take time.” Lydia replied calmly, “Like your dad said, we can’t even imagine what you’ve been through, but, look how far you’ve come already. When we first found you, you wouldn’t speak, you wouldn’t talk to us, but, look at you now; you’re talking, explaining, you’ve only got, what? Three knives on you? That’s progress.” 

“Four.” Stiles smiled and Lydia reassessed him, looking him up and down, she could see the handles of the two stuck down the sides of his jeans, knew he always had one in the back of his jeans, just for emergencies, but, where was the other one?

“Thigh holster? No, that’s stupid, you wouldn’t be able to get to it without taking your jeans off.” Lydia dismissed the idea, but, she couldn’t figure out where the fourth knife was and it was puzzling, she could see the rest of the pack studying Stiles too, he even held his arms out and turned around for them and yet it still wasn’t obvious where the fourth blade was. 

“It’s got to be a switchblade at the ankle, right?” Isaac suggested and Stiles grinned, shaking his head in silence. Erica jumped out of her seat, moving closer to Stiles, her hands hovering close to him as she sniffed, hoping to be able to sniff out the fourth blade, Stiles let out a little chuckle at her actions. 

“It is a thigh holster!” Erica grinned, her head hovering near Stiles’ thigh as she reached out and grabbed his thigh, feeling the bump under her hand. “How are you going to get that out in an emergency?” 

“Are you going to show us?” Danny asked and Stiles sighed, rolling his eyes. 

“Alright, but watch carefully, I’m only doing this once.” He replied, moving to a slightly clearer space in the kitchen, widening his stance slightly as he pulled out the other knives and placed them on the counter behind him, he raised his eyebrows, silently asking them if they were ready. He raised his knee quickly, turning his leg slightly at the same time and Derek watched in fascination as the denim was sliced open in one swift movement and then Stiles already had the knife in his hand, pulling it from the holster so quickly that Derek missed the movement, the downside was that Stiles’ jeans now had a long slit in them but he’d proved his point. 

“In case I’ve not said this before,” Jackson whispered a moment later, “remind me to never get on your bad side again.” He joked and Stiles grinned letting out a small chuckle as he put the knife back in its holster. 

“You seem to be in a good mood tonight.” Melissa commented and Stiles shrugged. “I don’t want to ruin that…”

“But?” Stiles prompted. 

“I wanted to know about the scars, the ones on your wrists, and I just, you don’t have to tell us, but, maybe, you know, it might help you, maybe?” She suggested and any good humour in the room vanished as Stiles tensed and frowned. “You don’t have to.” Melissa blurted out, “We just, it might help you, to talk about it, in case, you know, you feel like ever doing it again.” 

“I won’t.” Stiles whispered, “I, when, there were extenuating circumstances.” Stiles muttered, refusing to look at any of them. “It’s not something I’d do now, or ever again.” 

“What kind of extenuating circumstances?” Noah asked quietly, not wanting to push Stiles but still wanting to know, wanting to know what had pushed his son over the edge to attempt to kill himself.

“Alright.” Stiles sighed heavily, scrubbing a hand over his face and leaning back against the wall, his arms folded across his chest and taking a deep breath. “I’d been in the rings about three months, I’d already survived a lot, I’d made four attempt escapes, actually got out once, spent three days on the run before I got caught and dragged back. Marcus was in charge of that ring at that point, it wasn’t the main arena, it was the one with the bath, he’d been running it for a year but was always looking for new ways to punish people.” Stiles paused and Derek didn’t like how fast Stiles’ heart was racing, he was obviously uncomfortable talking about this. 

“You don’t have to…” He started and Stiles glared at him. 

“It’s fine.” He snapped, “When I was taken back to the rings they put me in a cage with a woman called,” He paused, Derek felt the wave of pain come from Stiles before he cleared his throat, “Her name was Bethany. She was tall, blonde, beautiful and completely innocent, just a human caught up in all this mess. We looked out for each other as best we could, I had a bit of experience by then, she didn’t, I ended up watching her back a lot more than she watched mine. I came up with another escape plan, I was so desperate to get back here, so desperate to get her out of that hell too. We got caught before we made it past the wall, one of the other gladiators had overheard our plan and ratted us out in an attempt to get out of the fighting for a few days.” Stiles looked pained and Noah wanted to hug him and hold him tight but he knew that if Stiles stopped now they’d probably never get the full story out of him. 

“They let us try though, Marcus thought it would be fun to watch us try, and, when they were there waiting for us they got to punish us. They put me in the bath for a few hours, trying to stay as still as I could so I didn’t drown, coming out completely drugged out of my mind. I don’t know what they did to Bethany during that time, the effects from the bath didn’t last that long, I could hold a sword within a couple of hours, even if my head was still all over the place. Then they threw the two of us in the ring, told us it was a fight to the death.” 

There were several shocked gasps around the room, Melissa covering her mouth as tears fell from her eyes but Stiles ignored them all, caught up in his own memories and taking a shuddering breath as he imagined Bethany’s face in his mind, that small private hopeful smile she’d give him while they planned their escape. 

“I didn’t want to fight her, would rather that she killed me. I knew if they suspected that we weren’t properly fighting they’d punish us, so we faked it, fought but always pulled away before we did any damage. Beth, she, um, she didn’t want to kill me either. We thought if we dragged it out enough that they’d relent, get bored, let us go back to the cage.” He paused, taking a deep breath, “They didn’t.” 

“What happened?” Ethan whispered in fear.

“They used the collars, they shocked us both, once we were both down they came into the ring, they chained us both up so we couldn’t move, then Marcus, he gave me the option to kill her, I refused, he shot her. Not in the head, not a nice, clean, quick kill. He shot her in the stomach. They dragged her across to me and left her to bleed out, knowing that I couldn’t do fucking anything about it, couldn’t even reach to put pressure on the wound, or snap her neck and end it quickly, I just had to watch. She was scared but she was so strong, it took her three hours to...” Stiles paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “Once she was dead they put me back in the bath. I wanted to drown myself, wanted to end it all, but, I couldn’t, when I tried they dragged me out. It was my fault, I’d planned the escape, I’d got us caught, I’d refused to give her a quick death, I came out of the bath and as soon as I could pick up a knife I, um, well, I tried to make it end.” 

“You told me that I shouldn’t make big decisions when I’d been in the bath.” Derek muttered, trying to rein in his anger, he was so angry, not at Stiles, not at what he’d done, but what had been done to him, what he’d suffered through, nobody should have to go through that, if they’d have known, God, if only they’d known, Stiles could have been spared so much. 

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly.” Stiles replied sarcastically, before rubbing a hand over his eyes and letting out a weary sigh. “Look, what I did that day, I’m not proud of it, I was weak and I broke and I tried to end it, and then, the caster brought me back and I knew that I had to be stronger, harder. I swore to myself that I’d get out and then I’d kill them all, and, I guess, that’s what I did. I got my first spiral two months after that and one of the casters in the cages explained to me what it meant, I didn’t believe her, not until they kept appearing, it wasn’t like I could feel the power or anything, the collars stopped that.” 

“You shouldn’t have had to go through that.” Aiden muttered quietly, “Nobody should have had to go through it.” He squeezed Cora’s hand tightly, Stiles was silent, unsure how to respond to that, they were right, nobody should have to go through that, but, unfortunately that didn’t change the fact that he had done. 

“It’s a good job they’re dead, otherwise I’d probably go kill them all over again.” Peter snarled and Stiles looked at him in surprise, “To do that, to you, to anyone, it’s not right, and to think that you had escaped, that you had been so close to getting away.” 

“Yeah.” Stiles shifted uncomfortably on his feet, “Well, anyway, now you know, that’s what happened and no, I’m not going to do something like that again.”

“I wish, I wish we’d known, I wish we’d been there, stopped it, helped you.” Danny said and it sounded so filled with pain that it made Stiles’ chest ache. Danny hadn’t known but Derek and Scott had and they’d left him there, let him go through that, it made him tense with anger, his magic rolling to the surface. 

“I’m going to go for a run.” He said abruptly, practically breaking into a run and leaving the door open behind him as he sprinted towards the preserve ignoring the way the wind caught in the hole in his jeans and swirled against his skin. 

Derek watched as Stiles closed off, his face tightening with anger before he turned and ran for the door, he knew that Stiles wanted to be alone, knew that he couldn’t go after him, no matter how badly he wanted to. Instead he focused his anger on making sure that no harm would ever come to Stiles again, he knew Stiles could look after himself, protect himself, but he shouldn’t have to, he had been so innocent, so human and humans had taken him and taken all that away from him. 

“Danny, how did you go on with the email address?” Derek asked, swallowing back his rage and closing his eyes for a moment to make sure they weren’t bleeding Alpha red, Danny looked at him in surprise, his eyes darting from the closed back door to Derek. 

“Um, well, it hasn’t been used in about twelve months, but, I’ve set up a notification that if he logs in again it’ll notify me. I’m using a cracking algorithm at the moment in an attempt to hack into the emails, there’s no guarantee, but, maybe he’ll have said something important in one of the emails he sent, like, a last name or address etc. I’m also running a search for anyone with the name Robin that matches the description Stiles gave me, if I can get a last name I’ll be able to do a more direct search rather than just trying to find him via an email address.” 

“That’s great Danny.” Scott mumbled, “Until then, what’s to stop this Robin guy sending anyone else after Stiles? There were hundreds of people in that arena that saw Stiles, what if more of them try and track him down?”

“We stop them.” Derek growled, “Nobody gets to take him away from us again. Not now. Not ever.” 

The next few days were quiet, they had all spent the night’s in Stiles’ room, mainly because he’d gone back to refusing to sleep in the bed, at first Jackson had tried tackling Stiles into the bed, needless to say, that hadn’t gone well. Instead it had prompted a sparring session where Stiles taught Jackson where he was going wrong, how his footing was always wrong, explaining that bare feet were better to feel the ground you were standing on. 

Instead of going to bed they ended up in the garden, Jackson attempting to land a hit while Stiles danced out of reach time after time before he turned his attention to the rest of the pack, pulling Lydia and Danny to their feet and handing them knives, Allison pulled out her own and he grinned. They spent the next hour practicing, Stiles pointing out where they were going wrong and showing them how to improve before they finally decided to call it a night. 

Stiles still wasn’t happy about sleeping in a bed but when Noah and Isaac had climbed in on either side of him, swiftly followed by the rest of the pack getting comfortable he had given in, knowing he wasn’t going to win the argument and, for the past few nights, they’d actually been able to get him to sleep in a bed, even if Stiles wasn’t spending that much time sleeping, rather he was leaning against the headboard and looking uncomfortable before finally dozing for a few hours each night.

Yesterday he had laughed and it had filled Derek with such joy that he felt like crying, it had been a short, quiet laugh and had cut off much too quickly for Derek’s liking, but, still, it had been a laugh. Stiles had been talking with Kira and Cora in the living room about something that had happened at school, Derek had only walked in to catch the tail end of the conversation and then Stiles had laughed at something Cora said and Derek caught sight of his grin, of the slight crinkle around his eyes, the way his whole body seemed to lighten in that moment, and Derek’s breath had caught because Stiles was beautiful, he was so goddamn beautiful and he was here and alive and home and it made Derek’s wolf hum with happiness. 

Right now, Derek was sat in the living room with the pack, the television was on in the background, Braeden was pressed up tightly against his side and Derek still hadn’t figured out how to tell her, how to end things without hurting her, part of him knew he just had to do it anyway, but he didn’t want to hurt her. Most of the pack that were school age were finishing off their homework, Lydia and Stiles had already finished theirs, it was a testament to Stiles’ intelligence that not only was he keeping on top of the work the school was piling on him, but he was ahead in it, finishing his homework in plenty of time to make sure he could go for a run in the evenings to keep his magic in check. 

Noah and Melissa were sat on the far sofa, muttering softly about their days, about different cases they’d had to deal with, Danny was tapping away on his laptop, earphones in as he tried to concentrate on whatever he was working on, Derek hoped he was closing in on Robin but he knew not to ask, he knew Danny would tell them the instant he made any progress. Ethan was resting against him, running one hand through Danny’s hair gently as he tried to work through his own homework.

Scott was scratching his head in confusion, looking more like a puppy than anything else, Derek knew that the old Stiles wouldn’t have wasted an opportunity for a dog joke but the new Stiles hadn’t said a word, instead heading into the kitchen in silence, Peter and Lydia were already in there and Derek listened to the soft murmur of voices drifting from the kitchen, his eyes on the television screen even if he wasn’t really watching whatever was on, instead taking in the feeling of his pack around him, of their contentment and peace, it finally felt like things were complete. 

Stiles wandered into the kitchen and saw Peter and Lydia both already in there, leaning over a book that was resting on the counter and Stiles studied them for a moment, it was so weird. Peter used to be a creep, he was the one who had bitten Lydia, who had brought her banshee powers to the forefront, who’d nearly driven her crazy as he used her to bring himself back from the dead. It was odd to see them acting like friends now, Stiles shook his head fondly as Lydia argued with Peter about the mathematical equation they were discussing, times had changed, they’d changed, he’d changed. 

“Stiles?” Lydia asked and Stiles looked across at her, surprised that he’d allowed his mind to wander so much, he raised a querying eyebrow, “Come help settle a debate.” Lydia waved him over and he studied the equation in front of him, “Peter thinks that this equation could have practical possibilities, but, by my calculations, it’s a never-ending variant, he’s wrong.” 

Stiles moved over to read the equation, pulling a knife from the back of his jeans and fiddling with it, the steady weight in his hand and the constant movement helped Stiles to settle as he studied the equation, doing the maths quickly in his head. He wasn’t as good as Lydia, probably never would be, but, as his mind processed and worked its way through the information, he knew she was right. 

“Sorry dude, Lyds is right.” He said simply, looking up to see both of them staring at the knife in his hand, he fought back a blush, “Sorry, helps me focus.” He said, moving away from them and towards the fruit bowl, purposefully putting the knife down on the counter and grabbing an apple. 

“You’re good with it.” Peter said and Stiles looked at him in surprise, “With knives in general.” Peter continued, “You’ve got a talent.” 

“It takes a lot of practice.” Stiles shrugged. 

“Don’t be modest Stiles.” Lydia scolded, “You’re good, really good, how did you do that thing? You know, you, kind of, twisted the knife between your fingers?” She picked the knife up and attempted to copy what Stiles had been doing a moment earlier and Stiles fought back a grin, he didn’t think Lydia would appreciate him laughing at her. 

“No, you’re doing it wrong.” He said instead, “You need to move the knife, let it become an extension of your hand, you are moving your fingers, here.” He took the knife from her, showed her again what he’d been doing, how the knife spun easily from one finger to the next, he slowed it down so that she could see what he was doing and then handed it back to her. “Try again.” 

Lydia grinned, trying again with the knife and nearly getting the movement right, the knife slipped though and Stiles snatched it up before it could slice her hand, twisting it so that it didn’t cut into his own hand as he gripped it. 

“Thanks.” Lydia whispered in relief and Stiles shrugged.

“Lots of practice, lots of times it went wrong.” He replied casually, looking across at Peter who was studying his hands, no doubt seeing the fine scars there from all the times he’d messed up with the knives when he first started. 

“You’re really good.” Lydia repeated, although her voice sounded a little hollow and Stiles wasn’t sure what was happening. 

“You okay?” He asked, glancing to Peter to see if he could figure out why Lydia looked like she was having an epiphany. What he didn’t expect was for Lydia to suddenly flush red, snatch the knife from his hand and storm towards the living room. “Lydia! What the hell!? Put the knife down!” Stiles said, running after her and grabbing her around the waist, twisting her hand so that she should have dropped the knife, instead she still clutched it tightly and she was furious, Stiles didn’t want to hurt her, but, had she lost her mind? What was she doing?

“What’s going on?” Noah asked, standing in the doorway, the rest of the pack gathering behind them, looking at them curiously while Lydia struggled to get out of Stiles’ grip and he did his best not to hurt her while also getting her to drop her knife. 

“You!” Lydia screamed furiously, “You fucking bitch! I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!” Lydia had never sounded so enraged before and Stiles was actually kind of struggling to hold her without hurting her. 

“Lydia!” Derek shouted, “What the hell is going on!?” 

“Stiles!” Lydia screamed in reply, “He’s good with fucking knives.” She shouted, that didn’t clear anything up for anyone. 

“Oh.” Peter said from behind them a snarl being torn from his throat and his eyes flashing blue as he moved forward towards the pack in the doorway. 

“Oh? Oh what?” Isaac asked almost nervously. 

“You… how long… how long did you fucking know?” Peter growled and suddenly Stiles caught up with what was happening. Shit. He didn’t want to do this.

“Peter, stop!” He shouted, knowing he’d have to let go of Lydia to stop Peter but knowing the banshee was equally as pissed and if he let her go then she wouldn’t be stopped. 

“Would one of you please tell us what the fuck is going on!?” Jackson shouted. 

“Braeden!” Lydia spat and all eyes turned to the woman, she was hovering near the back of the group, her eyes wide with surprise at the scene in front of her, looking nervous, Derek didn’t understand what the hell was going on. 

“It makes sense now.” Peter growled, taking a step towards her as Stiles finally let go of Lydia and practically threw himself in front of the two of them, blocking their path so they couldn’t advance on Braeden.

“What makes sense?” Cora asked confused, “You’re not making sense, neither of you are. Tell us what’s going on.”

“Why she smelled so scared at the first ring but then she didn’t afterwards, she never once smelled of fear when we found out Stiles was alive, after that she just smelled jealous and worried and upset but never, not once, was it fear.” Peter snarled. 

“That doesn’t clear anything up.” Melissa said quietly. 

“Really? How about the fact that she hunted down ‘some kid’ that escaped from Marcus, ‘some kid’ that was good with knives, that nearly gutted her before she shot him in the back with a tranquiliser as he ran away, ‘some kid’ that she handed back to Marcus without a second thought.” Lydia spat still trying to get past Stiles. There was a shocked silence, every eye turning to look at Braeden who was almost vibrating on the spot. 

“You… Stiles…you…tell me they’re wrong.” Derek finally managed to splutter out, Braeden, Braeden had captured Stiles, had taken him back to those rings, she’d left him there, and then, when they’d gone to the rings she’d tried to keep them apart, acted like she was scared of something bad happening to them, but, really, it had been she hadn’t wanted them to find him. It made so much sense, but, it couldn’t be, Braeden, she wouldn’t do that, would she? Why the hell would she keep Stiles hidden from them? It didn’t make sense. 

“Derek, I’m sorry.” Braeden began, her eyes filling with tears, “You have to, Derek, please, just, listen to me.” She pleaded, ignoring the sudden snarls around her, ignoring the way Derek’s eyes turned red and his claws came out and then suddenly Stiles was diving in between them, putting himself between the furious pack and Braeden. 

“Move out of the way.” Derek snarled, he would kill her, he would gut her, he would tear her limb from limb. Stiles had been through hell, he’d escaped and she had taken him back there. “Stiles, get out of the way.” 

“No.” Stiles replied, sounding calm, way too calm, “You all need to take a breath.”

“She took you back to that hell hole Stiles!” Scott snarled, “She took you back there! She left you there and she tried to keep us from you!” 

“It doesn’t matter.” Stiles replied, “It doesn’t matter.” He repeated to the incredulous pack, “I got out. I’m here now, aren’t I? You said that Braeden,” Stiles couldn’t help the anger he felt when he said her name, but, it didn’t matter right now, he knew if the wolves killed her they’d never forgive themselves, “Braeden is a friend, that she’s helped you out plenty of times, don’t let one mistake take that away from you.” 

“One mistake!?” Allison screeched, “Stiles, she shot you in the back as you ran away, she took you back to Marcus, back to the rings.” 

“Why?” Derek queried, meeting Braeden’s gaze, “Why did you keep this a secret? Why didn’t you tell us he was alive?” The pack were all silent waiting for her reply, she swallowed, licking her lips in nerves before sighing. 

“Do you remember what I asked you about on our first date? You told me it was a moot point?” Braeden asked and Derek felt like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs, Braeden had asked them if they would have ever gone out if Stiles was still alive, god, she’d left him there because of Derek, this was all his fault, all his fault, Jesus Christ, Stiles, Stiles had had to go through so much shit and it was all because of him. The guilt was overwhelming. 

“What?” Aiden asked in confusion, “What did you ask?” 

“Derek,” Braeden pleaded, ignoring Aiden completely, “Please, just, give me a chance to explain. Let me just, please, can we just, can we talk?” 

“How long?” Derek said, his voice sounding hollow and empty even to his own ears, “How long did you know he was alive?” 

“Since, since the night of his birthday, when Noah showed me the photo. I didn’t know before that, I swear I didn’t.” Braeden confessed. 

“Nine months!” Noah shouted, his eyes flashing blue, “You knew my son was alive for nine months and you didn’t tell us!? You didn’t think we deserved to know!?” 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Braeden said, her eyes focused on Derek. 

“Get out.” Derek said hollowly, “Get your things and get out.” He said, no longer even able to look at her without feeling like his chest was being crushed by guilt. This was his fault. 

“Derek, please…”

“He said get out.” Peter snarled, “So get the fuck out. Now. Before you don’t have that option. Get your shit and get out.” Braeden took one more look at Derek who still refused to meet her gaze and then turned on her heel, rushed up the stairs and opened the bedroom door. The pack stood in silence, none of them daring to say a word as they listened to Braeden pack her few belongings and hurry back down the stairs, pausing in the hallway and looking again at Derek. Stiles was still hovering almost protectively between Braeden and the pack as if convinced one of them was about to attack her at any given moment.

“Derek…”

“Leave. Now.” He growled, his wolf wanting to rip and tear, she’d kept Stiles from them, kept him from Derek, it wasn’t fair, it was his fault, he should have never told her, should have never let her know how important Stiles had been to him, still was to him. 

“Please…”

“Get out!” He roared, baring his fangs, his claws ready to rip her apart, his eyes glowing red as his wolf demanded vengeance. Braeden stumbled back a step before she was turning and practically running from the house, Derek turned in the opposite direction, unable to look Stiles in the eyes, this was all his fault, he ran to the back door, throwing it open and shifting as he ran, landing on all fours and sprinting towards the forest, ignoring the shouts of his pack behind him, knowing he just needed to run, just get away, to forget. 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Erica asked when Braeden had left and Derek had run out of the back door. Noah had stopped them going after him, telling them that he needed some time to himself, none of them were happy about it but they could all feel the guilt and pain rolling off their Alpha and they knew he needed space. 

“You said she’d helped you.” Stiles shrugged as if it was no big deal, “I didn’t want you to lose that friendship because of me.” 

“Because of you!?” Melissa spluttered angrily, “That woman lied to us, to all of us, she kept you from us, this is not on you, you didn’t do anything, she did, she lied, she hid you away from us and she let you go through hell in that place for nine months when we could have gotten you out sooner.” 

“I…” Stiles started.

“No, don’t you dare. This is not your fault Stiles.” Melissa shouted, “This is her, all her. She’s lucky Derek gave her the option to leave, that he didn’t just rip her throat out, I know I want to.” Melissa seethed.

“Okay.” Stiles sighed heavily. 

“Anything else you need to tell us?” Noah asked, “Anything else you are keeping from us because you think we need to be protected?”

“No.” Stiles replied. 

“You’re lying.” Noah said evenly. 

“Yeah.” Stiles sighed, hating that almost everyone in the room had werewolf hearing, could hear the lie in his heartbeat, “But, that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you. Somethings don’t need mentioning. They’ll only hurt you and I’m not doing that. It’s not necessary.” Stiles replied calmly, he couldn’t tell them about what Derek and Scott had done, it would tear the pack apart, he couldn’t do that to them, to any of them. 

“I get that you think you’re protecting us, but, you shouldn’t keep secrets from us Stiles, we can help.” 

“You’re not in any danger.” Stiles replied, “I’d tell you if I thought there was any risk to you, there’s not, you’re safe. It’s, there’s some things that I can’t tell you dad, some things that happened to me that hurt, and I’m not going to tell you about it, that’s not me being awkward or trying to keep secrets from you. It’s me knowing that telling you would cause more damage that you don’t need. That none of you need.” 

“Stiles,” Scott whimpered, “You know we’re here for you, we’re here to listen to you about anything, at any point, you’re my best friend Stiles, I’d do anything to help you.” Stiles felt those words twist deep in his gut, some best friend, Scott had left Stiles with the hunters, Scott had abandoned him, Scott had point blank refused to help him, Stiles would rather have no friends than count Scott as his best friend. He knew he wouldn’t be able to reply to Scott without sarcasm or lying, instead he just nodded his head in agreement before glancing at the back door again.


	17. Chapter 17

He wasn’t going to deny that seeing Derek hurting like that was painful, the guy looked like his whole world had just crumbled in on itself and Stiles didn’t blame him. He’d obviously cared deeply for Braeden and he’d just found out that she’d been lying to him, Stiles was kind of curious about Braeden’s reasoning, what she’d meant when she’d said it had been a moot point, he wanted to ask Derek about that, but, that would involve talking to him which was difficult at the best of times, he could just straight up ask him but it didn’t seem like anyone else knew either. 

By the time they were all thinking about going to bed Derek still hadn’t returned, the pack were used to him sometimes disappearing for days at a time when he got wrapped up in work, but this was different. The wolves had been able to smell the guilt and grief and despair that had wafted off their Alpha, they knew he was upset and they wanted him home. Noah left the house, saying he was going to check Derek’s workplace and if he wasn’t there then they’d go look for him, Stiles wanted to ask about Derek’s workplace, why his dad was the only one who knew where it was, but he swallowed the questions down, instead sitting quietly in the kitchen and letting the pack process the day’s events. 

Cora had disappeared upstairs a little while ago and when she returned back downstairs it was with a pile of washing, looking around at the rest of the pack hesitantly. 

“I’ve opened the windows and changed the sheets, I’d like to suggest that we all sleep in Derek’s room tonight, ensure that her scent is completely gone by the time he comes home.” Cora informed them, the pack all nodded quickly, Stiles even found himself nodding along. 

Derek, well, he betrayed Stiles, just like Scott had, but, he didn’t deserve this, he’d already had one psychopathic girlfriend who had burned his family alive, now he’d found another one who had lied to him, betrayed his pack, okay, so, yeah, Derek had known Stiles was alive, but, Braeden had known about it too, and she’d kept that from all of them. Stiles thought Derek was being a little hypocritical but, Derek had brought somebody else into the pack and she’d betrayed them. Maybe Stiles didn’t trust him, but, still, nobody deserved that. 

Noah arrived back a little later, saying that Derek hadn’t been working, they all knew that it meant that the Alpha was running out in the preserve, it was obvious that they wanted to go after him but they weren’t sure if their presence would be appreciated or if it would just send him over the edge, instead they decided to go to bed and hope that Derek would come home when he was ready.

Stiles stared at the room in surprise, it wasn’t that much bigger than his bedroom but the bed, Jesus the bed, it took up almost the whole room, big enough that he wouldn’t be surprised if the whole pack could climb into it and sleep comfortably, it was pretty impressive, although Stiles couldn’t really understand why anyone needed a bed that big.

“He bought it when we first moved in.” Cora explained, obviously seeing Stiles’ confusion, “Sometimes when we go for a run we all just pile in here afterwards, it helps us all to relax, having close contact with the rest of our pack.” Stiles nodded to show he understood and then followed the rest of the pack as they moved towards the bed, he wasn’t exactly happy about it, but, he understood that this was what they needed right now, so he’d just have to deal with it. 

Stiles stayed awake long after everyone else had gone to sleep, he’d managed to get a place at the edge of the bed, making sure that he was prepared in case he needed to move quickly. He didn’t think Derek would be annoyed at Stiles being in his bed, but, he didn’t want to let his guard down in case he had to defend himself. 

It was the early hours of the morning when Stiles heard the bedroom door open quietly, quiet enough not to disturb the sleeping pack, Stiles tensed up, unsure of what kind of mood Derek was going to be in, after all, he’d just lost his girlfriend because of Stiles, okay, maybe she’d been the one lying, but, if Stiles hadn’t come back into their lives then Braeden wouldn’t have been found out and Derek would still have the woman he was talking about having as a mate. 

Derek approached the bed cautiously, he hadn’t been that surprised to see his pack piled into the bed, they hadn’t done it for a while, not since before Kate had taken him, but, it offered him comfort, not to mention the fact it wiped all traces of Braeden’s scent from the room and he really appreciated that. He was exhausted from his run, he’d run until he couldn’t any more, until his legs burned and his chest ached and he couldn’t breathe, until he could forget the look on Stiles’ face that first night, when he spat out that he didn’t trust Derek, no wonder, Braeden had taken him back to that hell hole, left him there. Derek eventually decided to move back towards the house, knowing he needed to face Stiles’ fury, knowing it was his fault and Stiles deserved to blame him. He should have never trusted Braeden, he should have known he could never have a happy healthy relationship. 

When he had arrived back at the house he’d gone to Stiles’ room first, knocking quietly before going in, ready to receive a tongue lashing from Stiles and instead finding the room empty. For one brief second his heart had stopped, sure that Stiles had chosen to leave the house, leave the pack while Derek wasn’t around, then he caught the scent of his pack and moved to his own bedroom, opening the door and seeing them all sleeping peacefully, well, all except one. He could feel Stiles’ eyes on him as he approached him, Derek knew he looked a mess, he’d thrown on a pair of shorts when he’d entered the house but he was still covered in sweat and dirt from his run, Stiles was staring at him, his body tense as if he expected Derek to attack him at any given moment, the sight of him made Derek want to weep, Stiles had spent years in those rings and he shouldn’t have had to, Derek should have been a better Alpha, he should have known.

“I’m sorry.” He said, his voice cracking with pain and he knelt at the side of the bed and looking at Stiles with pure terror in his eyes. “I’m so sorry.” He repeated, not able to stop the tears spilling down his cheeks, not aware of the rest of the pack stirring slightly at the sound of their Alpha’s pain. “Please, please forgive me.” Derek begged and Stiles was looking at him with wide eyes, as if he was surprised at Derek’s words. “I’m so sorry Stiles.” 

“What she did wasn’t your fault.” Stiles muttered, “It’s okay.” Derek let out a heartbroken sob because Stiles was wrong, it wasn’t okay, he’d been tortured, he’d been beaten and threatened and terrified on a daily basis and it was Derek’s fault. Stiles was moving, letting out a sigh and pulling Derek into the bed, pulling him into a hug, Derek went along willingly, pressing his head into Stiles’ chest, wrapping arms around him and sobbing still. Stiles hesitated for only a moment before he wrapped his own arms around Derek, holding the trembling Alpha steady, glad when he felt the others move to comfort Derek. He wasn’t sure why Derek was so upset, Braeden hadn’t told them and that was bad, he got that, but, Derek had done far worse, he’d left Stiles with the hunters, it was his fault that Stiles had even ended up there in the first place, but, if Derek wanted to be upset, if he wanted the others to think that he cared about what happened to Stiles, then Stiles could go along with it, he’d never believe him of course, he knew better, but, if it was for the good of the pack then he could pretend. 

At some point Derek must have drifted off to sleep, his sobs stopped and his arms tightened just the littlest bit around Stiles, Stiles stared at him for a while, he’d never seen Derek look so heartbroken before, he must have really cared about Braeden, must have really felt betrayed by her, now he knew how Stiles had felt, when he’d abandoned him, when Stiles had realised that they weren’t coming for him, that they were going to leave him to die at the hands of the hunters. 

Stiles wanted to believe that of all the people that deserved to suffer this kind of pain, Derek was one of them, except, Derek had suffered so much already, and it was one thing for Stiles to think he deserved it, it was another to witness it, to see him falling apart, like his entire life had just crumbled around him. It made Stiles feel like shit for ever thinking that anyone deserved this. He’d had to go through it, nobody else should have to, not even those who had betrayed him. He allowed himself to drift into a light sleep, ensuring that he was still aware enough if there was an attack but at least getting a little rest before the morning came. 

Derek woke slowly without opening his eyes, he could hear the steady heartbeats of his sleeping pack around him, Stiles’ was the loudest, that didn’t really surprise Derek, he had his ear pressed up against Stiles’ chest, his arms still wrapped around Stiles’ lean body, it shouldn’t feel as good as it did, shouldn’t feel as right as it did. 

He felt different pack members beginning to stir and decided he should at least open his eyes, he blinked blearily, finally noticing the other hands that had reached out to offer him some comfort during the night, nodding at Erica in acknowledgement as she pulled her hand away and slid gracefully out of the bed. Stiles woke at the movement, blinking down at Derek for a moment before he pulled his arms backwards, extracting himself as delicately as possible so he didn’t wake up any of the other wolves that were still sleeping. 

Derek wanted to whine at the loss of contact but he knew that would probably only make things worse, instead he let Stiles pull away from him and climb gingerly out of the bed before disappearing out of the bedroom door. 

When everyone finally woke up, hours later, Derek felt better for having been surrounded by his pack during the night, what Braeden had done had hurt Derek in a way he wouldn’t have thought possible, although he hadn’t loved her, he had cared about her, he had trusted her, and for her to betray him like this, to punish Stiles for Derek’s feelings for him, it just, it wasn’t fair. 

He probably stayed in the shower for longer than necessary but he enjoyed the warmth of the water running over his skin, he felt, well, cleansed in a way, Braeden was gone from his life, she was nothing to him now, if he saw her again he could kill her and it wouldn’t bother him, her scent was gone from his room, only the pack’s remaining, her clothes and few trinkets were also gone, it was like she’d never been here and he couldn’t find it in himself to be sad about that. 

When he entered the kitchen the entire pack were sat around waiting for him, he moved towards the coffee, grabbing a mug before finally acknowledging them, arching his eyebrows and gesturing for them to say whatever it was that they wanted to say. 

“How are you feeling?” Peter asked and he shrugged, other than the fact his girlfriend had let a pack member go through hell because of Derek’s feelings for him he was fine and dandy. 

“Fine.” Derek replied. 

“Fine?” Allison scoffed, “Derek, you just found out the woman you wanted as your mate lied to us, betrayed the pack, betrayed Stiles, it’s okay to not be fine.” Derek pursed his lips as he thought how best to reply. 

“I didn’t.” He started, knowing he’d need to expand on his answer if they were to understand, “I, we, I didn’t want to be mates, I said okay to it, the night I’d been in the bath, I know you told me not to make big decisions, but I said okay, and then I kept trying to explain to her, to end things, and, it was just, it was always the wrong time, a bad time, some excuse, and I just, I didn’t.” 

“Derek,” Noah sighed wearily, “Why didn’t you say something to one of us? We could have helped you.”

“I’m an adult, I should have been able to end a relationship like a grown up. I just, I didn’t want to hurt her, and then I find out this, find out that she knew Stiles was alive and I’m, I’m fucking relieved, because I don’t have to care about hurting her any more, I don’t have to worry that she’s upset or that she hates me or anything like that, because, because she fucking lied, she hid Stiles from us and I hate her, I fucking despise her and I don’t care what happens to her and it’s okay.” Derek rambled.

There was silence from the pack as they tried to process what he’d just said. 

“Thank God.” Kira sighed in relief and everyone turned to look at her incredulously, “I’m sorry.” Kira blushed at the attention, “But she freaked me out so much and she wasn’t, like, I didn’t really like her.” 

“Me neither.” Lydia added dismissively. 

“But…” Derek asked nonplussed, “Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“Because you liked her.” Scott said simply, “You’re our Alpha and we want you to be happy, if that meant being with someone that none of us really liked then we’d deal with it.”

“But, I mean, I never realised, I never smelled that you didn’t like her, I mean, you never, none of you ever even hinted at it.” 

“It wasn’t like outright hatred, you know, she was okay, she was alright, at least in the beginning, but, she just, she wasn’t the most pleasant person to be around sometimes, she didn’t understand some of the packs needs.” Noah tried to explain.

“I wish you guys had told me that!” Derek sighed in exasperation, if only he’d known, it could have changed so much. 

“Yeah, well, same goes for you, big guy.” Aiden shrugged, “You could have told us you weren’t that into her.” Derek had the decency to blush. 

“I’m sorry, I should have, I just, I’m sorry.” Derek said, at a complete loss for words, his mind was racing, how could he have missed the fact that none of his pack had thought much of Braeden and he hadn’t even noticed? It was such a mess. “You’re being awfully quiet about this.” Derek said glancing to Stiles who only shrugged, “Don’t you have an opinion? Don’t you hate her?” Stiles just shrugged again. “I don’t get it. What she did…you’ve forgiven her?” 

“No.” Stiles said simply, “But, what she did, I just, I’ve had worse things happen, do I blame her? Obviously. But, there’s other people that have done worse to me, people I thought I could trust. Maybe I just know when to pick and choose my fights.”

“So, you don’t care because you’ve been through worse!? What the hell kind of excuse is that?” Erica snapped angrily, “That bitch took you back there, if you’d escaped, if she hadn’t taken you back there, we could have been there for you, we could have come for you, we could have been together and instead, instead you had to go through hell because of her!”

“Yeah! I went through hell! Not you! Me!” Stiles shouted, “I’m the one who had to fight for his life every minute of every day! Not you! So I’ll deal with it however I want to, however I can do. Okay? Isn’t it up to me!? Isn’t is my choice how I cope?” He practically screamed, his face flushing red with anger. Derek was surprised by the outburst, he hadn’t seen Stiles get this emotional since his return, he’d always seemed in control of himself, of his emotions. 

“I’m…I’m sorry.” Erica stammered, “You’re right. If you don’t want…if you’re okay with, with her, then that’s okay.” 

“I’m not okay with her, I’d happily gut her, but she helped you guys, saved your asses a few times from the sound of it, if you’d killed her in the heat in the moment you would have regretted it.” 

“But you wouldn’t have?” Ethan asked. 

“It wouldn’t have been in the heat of the moment.” Stiles shrugged, “I know exactly what I want to do to her, have planned it a thousand times, but, you said she was a friend, and I thought you might be pissed if I killed her straight away. I was just waiting for her to fuck up.” He said it so simply, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to discuss murdering someone, he guessed it was for Stiles. 

“Well that’s not super disturbing.” Danny said sarcastically and Stiles grinned sheepishly. 

“So, maybe we should move onto a happier subject, you know, one that doesn’t involve death and murder?” Jackson suggested. 

“Well, um, Deaton keeps asking about Stiles’ magic? About how you’re getting on?” Scott asked. 

“That’s probably a worse subject than murder.” Stiles sighed, “If anything it’s more out of control than it was, it’s so frustrating.”

“It’ll take time.” Peter said soothingly, “You’re still so new to all this Stiles, you’re not expected to have it perfect already, so long as you keep trying, that’s all any of us can ask for.”

Stiles didn’t want to talk about it any longer, didn’t want to think about any of it, he just wanted to get out of the house and clear his head, he nodded in agreement with what Peter was saying but he wasn’t sure that he believed him, if Stiles couldn’t control his magic he could do some serious damage, he needed to start getting it under control, he had to try harder. 

He went up to his bedroom, grabbing the dust that Deaton said would help and let the pack know that he was going out to practice and he’d be back later, before he wandered out into the preserve and found a good clearing near the river to sit down in, sprinkling the dust in a circle around him and sitting down to meditate. 

He returned hours later looking a little worse for wear after his magic had decided to knock down several trees and throw Stiles into the river, he’d trudged back to the house, wanting to take off his shirt and jeans in an attempt to dry out but knowing that if any of the pack saw their gazes would linger on his scars and he didn’t want to upset them. 

“Not a word.” He threatened Cora who stared at him when he entered the kitchen, her mouth dropping open in surprise for a moment before her lips curled up in a smirk. He ignored her and the rest of the pack, heading upstairs and getting warmed up in the shower before finally throwing on some dry clothes.

The next few days were quiet, the pack had taken to sleeping in Derek’s room every night and Stiles was kind of getting used to the idea of sleeping in a bed again, even if he didn’t really sleep that much, at least he was comfortable, he still wasn’t going to let his guard down though, he wasn’t idiotic.

Stiles had been training with the humans, showing them how to adjust their fighting stances, how to deliver the most damaging blows, how to incapacitate their enemies with as little danger to themselves, he was pushing them hard but he had to, he had to make sure they could protect themselves. Scott volunteered to do the demonstrations with Stiles, even Stiles felt sorry for him after the twenty-fifth time that Scott had been taken down and suggested that someone else volunteer, Scott had winced as he stood, nodding gratefully as Boyd took his place.

It didn’t matter how hard he tried, how many hours he spent studying with Deaton or practicing out in the preserve by himself, the control over his magic only seemed to be getting worse, he’d had two more episodes of glowing skin and burning t-shirts, he’d managed to run until his magic had lessened though, and then sparred with the wolves until he was too exhausted to move.

Derek had been the one to start the sparring, eyes narrowed and assessing the hint of glowing to Stiles’ skin, he’d snarled and leapt at Stiles, Stiles hadn’t been prepared for it and he only just managed to dodge out of the way of his claws. Stiles had fought back with everything he had, knocking Derek on his ass within a minute and then Erica was jumping forwards, doing her best to pin him, Stiles fought, pushing himself harder and faster, determined to take down every single one of them. He finally stopped when he had Derek pinned underneath him and a knife to Peter’s throat, both of them grinning widely at him, he pulled away quickly, confused at what the hell was going on until Derek studied him carefully and then nodded.

“The glow has faded completely now, you should be okay for a couple of days now.” Derek muttered, Stiles had stared at him in surprise, he hadn’t realised that Derek had been trying to help him, he’d thought that Derek had lost his mind and decided to attack Stiles, he’d never thought that Derek had wanted to help, wanted to fight Stiles to help him keep control for a little longer. 

“Thanks.” Stiles mumbled, the confusion evident in his tone. 

It was a Thursday when the vampire coven showed up. They weren’t even discreet about it. Stiles was sat in his jeep which his dad had gotten out of storage, it had taken a couple of weeks for the mechanics to get it up and running again and Stiles had stared at it in surprise when his dad had trundled up the driveway and parked it, getting out and beaming at Stiles. He’d run his hands over the bonnet, flinging himself up into the front seat and stroking the steering wheel almost reverently before turning to his dad and giving him the biggest hug he could manage. He’d barely left the jeep since, happy to drive anywhere and everywhere if it meant he got to listen to the roar of the familiar engine as he drove. 

The vampires didn’t really surprise him, after the wolf pack the other week he’d known that Robin would tell others about his location, knew that more would come. He didn’t know if they were here to kill him or to ask him to join their coven and help them out with the magic side of things. They’d been driving home from school, Allison and Isaac jumping in with him, the rest of the pack ahead of them as all their cars were much faster than Stiles’, the vampires were standing across the road, blocking their path. He slowed to a stop, studying the row of vampires in front of him, there were nine of them, he’d never be able to take out that many, the most he’d ever managed was two at once. Allison wouldn’t stand a chance, Isaac might be able to hold his own for a moment or two with the werewolf speed, but after that they’d both be slaughtered. 

Stiles prayed they were only here to talk, maybe, just maybe, he could distract them long enough for Isaac and Allison to get out of here. 

“Stiles?” Allison asked sounding nervous, her eyes never leaving the line of vampires in front of them.

“Call Derek.” Stiles muttered, quiet enough that the vampires wouldn’t hear from where they were stood, he knew how good their hearing was, it was why he’d stopped a hundred feet away from the line. “You’re going to drive back towards town, tell the pack to meet you there.” Stiles whispered.

“What are you going to do?” Isaac asked and Stiles grabbed the four knives he kept in the jeep for emergencies and stuffed them in the back of his jeans before he reached for his door handle, “No!” Isaac hissed angrily, his hand wrapping around Stiles’ wrist and holding him tightly. “Stiles, no, there’s no way you’re going out there.” The vampire in the middle of the row was smiling at him, sharp teeth already on show, it didn’t exactly raise his hopes that their visit here was peaceful. 

“Isaac.” Stiles warned, glancing down to the hand on his wrist, looking back up and seeing that the vampire had taken a few steps forward, Stiles knew he’d be able to cover the distance before Stiles could put the jeep into reverse, he knew he had no choice but to see what they wanted and pray for the best. He slid out of his seat and shut the door behind him looking purposefully at Isaac who was still staring at Stiles with wide eyes. 

“So, what can I do for you fine ladies and gentlemen today?” Stiles asked as he walked forwards, halving the distance between them, ignoring the fact that the jeep still hadn’t moved from behind him.

“This is The Kid?” One of the females asked, looking at Stiles like he was dirt on her shoe.

“The one and only.” Stiles replied a small confident smirk on his lips, he had learned that sometimes you just had to fake it, he knew the vampires would be able to hear his heart racing, but, they couldn’t scent emotions like werewolves, he could be afraid, but he could also be preparing to attack. 

“Can’t you tell?” The male next to her said, “Look at those hands, I’m surprised you haven’t got a knife in them already.” Stiles was caught off guard, the guy sounded impressed, awed almost, that tone made him feel more nervous than facing down nine vampires. 

“Well, I wouldn’t want to come across as rude, arming myself before we’ve even had introductions.” Stiles replied smoothly, frustrated that the jeep still hadn’t moved, he didn’t know how much time he’d be able to buy them. 

“Of course, it’s only polite after all.” The man in the middle smiled, his gaze running up and down Stiles’ body before returning to his face. The man was a couple of inches taller than him, his dark hair cut short and he was lean, narrow shoulders and hips, looking at Stiles hungrily, Stiles’ pulse felt overly loud in his ears. “Of course, we know who you are.” He paused and Stiles remained silent, “My name is James, this is my coven, my second in command,” He pointed to a tall man, one who would make Derek look small, he had shoulder length blonde hair and was grinning at Stiles ferally. “Matthew.” 

“And the others?” Stiles asked. 

“Not important, not now, in the future, of course, we’ll make time for proper introductions, but, I assume you want to get down to business?” James laughed, his teeth flashing dangerously and Stiles couldn’t help his hands slipping around to the back of his jeans to grasp his knives, knowing they’d probably do no good.

“Alright, down to business. Why are you here?” Stiles replied.

“We want you to join our coven.” Matthew said simply and Stiles risked a glance back at the jeep which was still parked there, Isaac and Allison both looking at him with worry. 

“And should I choose to say no?” Stiles queried.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” James grinned, smiling at Stiles threateningly. 

“So, let’s just get this clear, when you say you want me to join your coven, what you actually mean is you’re going to force me to join your coven? Because I feel like you should probably be a bit more specific, and, if we’re going to get specific, in what vicinity are you wanting me to join your coven? Because I have a bit of a thing about my teeth not being sharp and pointy.” Stiles rambled, hoping to buy more time, knowing he might just provoke them, if the way some of them snarled and snapped their teeth in his direction was any indication to go by, he was definitely leaning more towards provoking.

“If you want to get specific,” James whispered menacingly stalking towards Stiles, “I’m going to have you in my coven, willingly or not, you hold enormous power and the damage I could do if I can get you to wield it for me, which, you will do by the way, one way or the other, would be immense.” 

“Dude,” Stiles scoffed, trying to look as nonchalant as possible, “I can’t even control it myself, there’s no way I’m going to do it for you.” 

“As I’ve already stated, you won’t have a choice. You will be mine, you will belong to me, in any way I want.” James smirked, looking Stiles up and down again and coming closer, close enough that Stiles could reach out and touch him if he wanted. 

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Stiles said, tensing when he heard the car doors open behind him, he wanted to turn and see what was going on but he knew that tearing his gaze from the vampire in front of him would end in disaster. He felt Isaac and Allison approach on either side of him and glare at James. “What are you doing?” Stiles said coldly, without looking at them, he’d told them to leave, not to get themselves killed by having a stand-off with a coven of vampires.

“You’re not taking him anywhere.” Isaac growled. “He’s ours.” 

“Yours?” James huffed out a laugh, “Oh, please, he might smell like your pathetic pack but that doesn’t make him yours, does it? He’s not bound to you, or to your Alpha. Which means he’s fair game.” 

“Fuck you.” Stiles glared, he wasn’t a prize to be won, he wasn’t a fucking victim, he was a gladiator, he was a survivor, he would not be spoken about like he was some kind of meat that they could squabble over. 

“I’d very much like to.” James grinned, reaching out and stroking a finger down Stiles’ cheek, Stiles moved instantly, pulling a knife from the back of his jeans and slicing it across James’ cheek before any of them could react, James lifted his fingers to his cheek, studied the few drops of blood on his fingertips before the wound closed. 

“Touch me again and I’ll kill you.” Stiles snarled viciously, surprised when he heard howls coming from the preserve on either side of them, he still didn’t dare to look away from James but if the way Allison and Isaac relaxed on either side of him he took a guess that the rest of the pack had arrived. His theory was confirmed when Derek’s bare shoulder came into his line of sight, (seriously? Didn’t the guy ever wear a shirt!) and the Alpha was full on snarling at James.

“You heard him. Step away. Now.” Derek growled, James just looked on with amusement. 

“Honestly, you’d rather deal with this pack of mutts than be bound to me?” James laughed, “You know I could kill them all without breaking a sweat?”

“Yes.” Stiles spat angrily, “But you couldn’t with me.” 

“Oh, I know, I’ve never seen a human take out a vampire before, I’ve seen you take out forty, no wonder I want you. It helps that you’re more than a little easy on the eyes.” He smirked. 

“You know how dangerous I am and you want to keep me against my will? Look how well that worked out for Marcus and the others.” Stiles mocked. 

“I’m sure I could find a way to keep you suitably detained until you come around to my way of thinking.” James replied and Stiles rolled his eyes. 

“Seriously? You think you can do better than the arenas? They had me for two years and they didn’t break me, you honestly think you could?” Stiles laughed and for the first time James looked almost uncertain, Stiles decided to press the advantage, it was now or never. “So, are you willing to risk your own life? The lives of your coven? Because believe me, if you take me against my will, if you harm any of the Hale pack, then I will not rest until I have slaughtered every single one of you, and I will take my fucking time with it, it won’t be quick and painless, I’ll make you beg for death before I end you. You know what I’m capable of, how deadly I can be, you want to risk the lives of your coven for a chance at getting my power?” Stiles asked calmly, coldly, his voice sounding detached and dangerous. Derek really fought back the wave of arousal he felt when he heard Stiles defending himself, defending the pack like that, Noah’s nose twitched from next to him and he rolled his eyes and Derek figured maybe he didn’t hide his arousal as well as he hoped. 

“I know exactly how capable you are, exactly how dangerous you are, it’s why I want you so badly.” James replied simply, “I’ve discussed it with my coven and we’re more than willing to take the risk, what you should think about is how many of this pack have to die before you agree to come with us.” At his words the woman who had spoken earlier moved, quicker than any of the wolves had expected and within a moment she had her hand around Noah’s throat, grinning victoriously as the werewolf snarled at her. “Shall we start with your dad?” James grinned.

“Don’t you dare Stiles.” Noah threatened, he was not going to watch these bastards take Stiles, he’d rather die. Stiles finally looked away from James, looked at the grinning vampire that held his father’s life in her hands. He had four knives on him, no swords, a pack of wolves who could maybe delay the fight by a few moments and a few humans who were next to useless (no offence to any of them, but he knew how fast a vampire could move – without the proper training the humans would only get in the way). The odds were against him but he didn’t want to leave with these vampires, he was finally starting to feel like this could be home to him again, he didn’t want to leave and more importantly he didn’t want to leave his dad. 

He shifted slightly, moving his hands to the knives still resting in his jeans, he knew the easiest way to kill a vampire was to behead them but without his swords he’d have to go for a more violent approach, the point was that he had to cause brain damage, particularly, ramming a knife into their skull from just behind their right ear, sometimes it took a couple of attempts but it always did the job in the end. His main priority was to protect his dad, he assessed the situation, his eyes running over the vampires, how he’d predict that they would attack once he made his move. He was used to this, used to planning for every eventuality, the difference was that this time there were other people he cared about, he couldn’t just fight for his own survival, he had to fight for theirs, which meant keeping the vampires attention on him and he needed the element of surprise. 

He moved seamlessly, pulling a second knife from his jeans, throwing the first one at the woman still holding his dad by the throat, knowing it would hit its target and go straight through her eye, while the first knife was still in the air he used the second one to slice a shallow cut to his throat, just enough for it to bleed, the vampires were slaves to their bloodlust, it would keep their attention on him which is what he wanted. He was already moving by the time the knife struck, pouncing on the woman who had just started to react, pulling the knife from her eye and ramming it into her skull behind her ear, driving it home once, twice, three times before she fell still and he dropped her body to the ground. 

He was moving again already, James was next, take out the leader and the others would pause, he knew that, it was the way it worked, the way it always worked, buy himself more time. James was snarling, looking ready to launch himself at Derek except Stiles was there first, the scent of his blood distracting James for a moment, only a moment but long enough, Stiles slammed the already bloodied knife into his skull and felt his body go limp, James’ body fell to the ground with a dull thump and Stiles paused, looking at the remaining seven vampires. Ignoring the stares that he felt from the pack behind him. 

“You really are something incredible.” Matthew said with awe and Stiles glared at him, clenching the knives in his hands tightly. 

“So you’ve said, want to see what else I can do? Or are you going to leave?” 

“You smell incredible too.” Matthew smirked, taking a step towards Stiles.

“Stay the hell away from him.” Derek growled and Matthew laughed.

“Why? He’s not yours, is he? He’s not bound to this pack, the closest bond he has is with his father and if we take care of that, well, he won’t stick around long, even if you kill all of us, if his father dies, he’ll leave, one way or another. He’s not yours Alpha.” Matthew grinned, Stiles wanted to deny it, but, he wasn’t sure that it was a lie, if his dad wasn’t here, would he be? Or would he leave? Get as far away from the people that had betrayed him as he possibly could? He knew the pack were all looking at him, waiting for him to spit sarcasm, tell Matthew that it was complete bullshit but he just couldn’t do it, he didn’t know.

“You’re right.” Stiles agreed, “I don’t belong to anyone, not anymore, not ever again. But you’re wrong. You’re wrong because you threatened my father and you’re too stupid to realise you’re already dead.” Stiles grinned evilly at his own pun before he dived forwards, going to his knees and sliding along the ground, through Matthew’s legs, stabbing his knife into Matthew’s crotch and dragging it backwards, jumping to his feet on the other side and pulling the knife out to slam it into Matthew’s skull while he was screaming in pain from the lower wound. 

Stiles didn’t give the other vampires any chance to retaliate, he had to take them down, hard and fast and before they went after his dad. He saw them already moving, heard the roar of the pack behind him, he couldn’t think about them, he had to stay focused, he dodged the fist that was directed at him, using his knives to cut and stab and jab his way through the first three vampires with ease, this was more important than his own survival, this was about his dad’s survival. He had to take them out now. 

He fought with more ferocity than he ever had before, he could see the other three vampires challenging the pack, trying to get at his father as the rest of the pack crowded around him and only just managing to keep them at bay. Stiles rose from where he was crouched on the ground, storming towards the vampires that had their backs to him, overcome with rage, how dare they!? How dare they attack his father? How dare they attack the people he cared about? He’d warned them. They would pay for it. 

His blade sunk deep into the first vampire’s skull before anyone even seemed to notice him and then the final two vampires were turning towards him, snarling viciously, their eyes glowing and fangs flashing and Stiles was too angry to be afraid, that wasn’t true, he was afraid, he was always afraid, it was what had kept him alive, but right now the anger was so much more powerful, almost overwhelming in its intensity. 

The remaining vampires jumped backwards, moving away from the pack and positioning themselves on either side of Stiles, whichever way he turned he would have one of them at his back, he ducked and rolled, doing his best to keep moving, make himself a harder target, he knew the vampires had more speed than him but he knew how they moved, how they handled themselves, he just had to be smarter. 

He was down to one knife the others still stuck in the brains of some of the downed vampires, he lashed out with a vicious roundhouse kick, knocking back the vampire behind him, using the momentum to flip himself backwards and out of the reach of the other one. He could hear the pack shouting from nearby but it was like white noise, he was so focused on killing them, on ending this and making sure they never got the chance to threaten his father again. 

The blade rammed into one of their skulls eventually, he hadn’t been quite quick enough and he’d taken a bite to the wrist as he’d reached forwards to stab the knife home, it wasn’t that bad of a bite but the vamp had dropped while his mouth was still around Stiles’ wrist and it had torn the skin badly, blood was dripping down from his wrist, soaking his hand and running to the floor. He heard the final vampire shriek in rage and startled, his final knife was still in the head of the vampire at his feet, he rolled forwards, only just missing the claws that had torn through the air where he’d been standing. He’d rolled out of the way but it put him further from the knife, the others were just as far away and Stiles cursed, if he’d had his swords he would have dealt with this already. 

“What’s wrong Kid? Realised you’re out of shiny little knives?” The vampire taunted and Stiles dodged the foot that lashed out of him, dancing backwards out of reach, getting closer to one of the bodies, she was too busy taunting him to see what he was doing, he was smarter than her, he had to be. “You smell good, I’m going to enjoy draining you, then I’m going to snap the neck of your mutts, I won’t bother drinking their blood, smells too much like dog, but, I’ll still kill them all, just like you killed my coven, I’ll have fun with your humans though, they don’t smell as sweet as you but they’ll still satisfy me, I’ll take my time with them though. Make them scream.” She continued and Stiles couldn’t help the grin on his face when he saw Derek approaching her from behind, his eyes Alpha red, his claws and fangs already out and looking deadly, Stiles knew he only had to distract her for a moment.

“You want me? Come and get me?” He grinned, flicking an arm in her direction so that the blood flowing from his wrist splashed her across the face. She roared and charged at him and he knew he just had to hold her, just for a moment, despite the fact that she was so much stronger than he was, he just had to hold her for one second. Her hands clenched around his arms so tightly that Stiles knew he was going to have bruises later but he couldn’t think about that now, he grabbed hold of her arms just as tightly and smirked, willing that confidence into his features, even if he didn’t feel it. “You’ve forgotten one thing.” Stiles grinned as Derek closed the distance between them, “That pack of mutts have claws.” He replied, holding her still as she tried to turn and Derek pierced her skull with his claws, Stiles watched as her eyes lost all focus and she went limp in his arms, he dropped her immediately, looking at the body with disgust.

Derek was moving towards him, grabbing his wrist and keeping pressure on it to try and slow the bleeding. 

“Nice work.” Stiles said, surprised that Derek had stepped in, Derek only shrugged in reply.

“You too.” Derek smiled softly and Stiles looked around at the bodies on the ground, he’d never been able to take out so many vampires in one go before, he was kind of impressed with himself, even though it still felt wrong, he shouldn’t be happy about killing, but, it was to protect his dad, he could justify it if it meant that his dad was alive. 

“Stiles, are you okay?” Noah asked, finally having pushed his way through the pack and checking Stiles over for any other injuries. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles replied easily, “Would have been better if I had my swords, I think I’m going to start keeping them in my jeep, although, I’ll have to build like a secret compartment or something in case anyone from our fine police department pulls me over, but it would have to be easy access, otherwise I might not be able to get them out in time.” Stiles pondered out loud, ignorant of the looks he was getting from the rest of the pack before his dad broke out into a relieved laugh and pulled him tightly into a hug, obviously not aware that Derek was still holding onto his wrist as it pulled slightly.

“God, it’s so good to have you back, it’s, god, I’ve missed you Stiles.” Noah grinned widely holding him tightly still, Stiles wasn’t sure what he was on about, unaware of just how much his ramble had effected his father, unaware that it was this small sign that the Stiles they had known was still there, that he was getting better, bit by bit. 

Derek insisted that they take Stiles back to the house straight away to get his injuries checked out while some of the pack stayed behind to clear up the bodies, Stiles tried telling them he was fine but Derek refused to listen to him, refused to take his hand away or relieve the pressure on his wrist, Stiles rolled his eyes, knowing he wasn’t going to win the argument and not in the mood to put Derek on his ass when Derek had kind of just saved his life. 

By the time they got back to the house the bleeding had stopped and when Melissa cleaned the wound it was to find fresh skin under the blood, Stiles stared at it in silence for a moment before Melissa cleared her throat.

“I’m guessing you didn’t mean to heal yourself?” She asked.

“I didn’t even realise I’d done magic.” Stiles confessed, this was getting ridiculous, he had to get a handle on this before he did some serious damage, he just had to work harder, he was sure of it.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some really dark parts in this chapter, mentions of sexual abuse etc. Just to make you aware!

By Sunday evening Stiles was fed up, he’d spent all Saturday and Sunday at Deaton’s and he wasn’t getting any better at controlling his magic, in fact, he had destroyed two of Deaton’s desks and Deaton had looked at him with worry, he hadn’t said anything but Stiles could see it in his eyes, if Stiles didn’t get a control of his magic, and soon, things were going to get a hell of a lot worse. 

He’d run back to the house, trying to burn off some pent-up energy and get his head in the right frame of mind before he faced the pack, he had to tell them that he wasn’t getting any better, that it was only getting worse, he couldn’t put them at risk, he needed to leave, figure out his magic and then maybe return, but for now, he was putting them in danger by being here. He’d made his mind up, it was necessary, to protect them. 

He stood in the doorway looking at the pack, they were lounging around the living room, the television on quietly in the background, they looked peaceful, relaxed, it made Stiles’ chest ache to think he’d have to leave this behind. Despite what Derek and Scott had done he’d actually begun to believe that he could have a home here and, now, now he had to give it up if he wanted to keep everyone safe. 

“What’s up?” Erica asked, looking up at Stiles from the floor, Stiles paused, opening his mouth but finding the words failing him, how could he tell them? He couldn’t, he’d just, he’d write a letter, explain that he was leaving until he got control, that he had to, to protect them from him, and then he’d leave. 

“Nothing.” He sighed, “Just a long day.” He continued, slumping down into the nearest chair and rubbing a hand over his eyes. 

“Well it’s not over yet, you’ve got homework to do.” Lydia said calmly and Stiles groaned, flinging his head back against the chair and silently praying to whatever god was up there to please let him not have to do his homework. “Come on, it’s not that hard, I know you know it.” 

“I know I know it too.” Stiles replied, “I just don’t want to use my brain any more today or I think it’ll start leaking out of my ears.” He joked, already getting up to go get his bag and pulling out his homework. 

They worked in silence as one by one they all finished their homework, Stiles was exhausted, he could quite happily sleep where he lay and never move again as he finally finished the last equation and slammed the book shut, jumping to his feet and throwing the books back in his bag.

“How did it go with Deaton today?” Derek asked a few minutes later and Stiles shrugged, if he told them anything they’d know he was lying. “I can call and ask him if you’d prefer?” 

“No. It’s fine. I mean, it went fine. I mean, I’ve had better days, but, you know, it’s fine.” 

“You said fine a lot then.” Isaac commented and Stiles scowled at him. “Did it not go fine?” 

“No.” Stiles sighed heavily, “I blew up two of his desks, it’s a disaster, I just, I keep trying and I keep failing and it’s just getting worse.” Stiles sighed.

“You’ll get there eventually.” Allison smiled softly, “It’ll just take time.” Stiles took a deep breath and sighed.

“I think, until then, until I get a control of it, it would be a good idea for me to leav…”

“No.” Derek said firmly, glaring at Stiles.

“You didn’t even let me finish!” Stiles protested.

“You think it’s a good idea for you to leave!?” Derek glared, “No, it’s not happening, you’re staying here with us, we’re not losing you again. You stay. End of discussion.” 

“I wasn’t aware we’d started a discussion, it felt more like you ordering me actually.” Stiles replied.

“You’re not going anywhere Stiles.” Noah confirmed, “Derek’s right, we’re not even entertaining the idea of you going anywhere, and I know you’re thinking it’s to protect us or something similar, but you were gone for two years Stiles, I’m not losing you again because your magic might go haywire at some point in the future. If it comes to that then we’ll deal with it, but until then, you stay here, no arguments.” 

“But…”

“No.” Lydia snapped, “They’re right, shut up Stiles, you’re not going anywhere.” 

“Fine.” Stiles retorted, equal parts annoyed that they were treating him like a child and relieved that they weren’t already kicking him out, he spun on his heel and left the room, going up to his room and shutting the door behind him. He was frustrated, he couldn’t make sense of Derek’s actions, the man had betrayed him, left him to rot with the hunters, told his father he was dead and yet now he was acting like he cared, telling Stiles they couldn’t lose him again, it was messing with his head, he knew, he knew the truth and that was that Derek didn’t care, Derek had proven that two years ago. 

On Wednesday evening he was sitting in the living room surrounded by most of the pack, Danny and Ethan had disappeared upstairs an hour ago, apparently they were ‘studying’, Stiles didn’t believe that for a second. Derek, Peter and his dad were in the kitchen, Stiles could hear the faint murmur of voices but not what they were saying, when he’d grabbed a bottle of water ten minutes ago they’d been discussing some old case that was irrelevant but his dad loved telling people about, mainly because it was the case that got him promoted from deputy to Sheriff. 

Scott was lay next to him, chewing on his pen and scowling at his paper as tried to work through the equations he was dealing with, Kira running her fingers through his hair absentmindedly, Isaac and Allison sprawled across one sofa, while Erica, Jackson and Aiden were wrestling in an empty space and Cora and Boyd were taking bets on which one of them would win, Lydia was sat on the other side of him, pretending like she wasn’t reading his homework over his shoulder and making sure he was doing it correctly, he would pretend that it bothered him, but, honestly, it was nice to know that Lydia was so insistent on making sure he was managing his schoolwork. She never did his homework for him, she just made sure that he understood what it was he was trying to answer, it was like having a personal tutor and Stiles really did appreciate it. 

It had been quiet for a few days, no explosions of magic, no vampires, no other werewolves, no other creatures, it was kind of peaceful and Stiles could almost believe that life could truly be like this, he knew better of course, it was more just waiting for the other shoe to drop. He knew that. What he didn’t expect was how it happened. 

Danny came running down the stairs, Ethan hot on his heels, they both looked pissed, angrier than Stiles had ever seen before and he couldn’t help but wonder what the hell had happened when they were ‘studying’ upstairs.

“You son of a bitch!” Danny snarled angrily, rushing forwards towards Stiles, Stiles wasn’t sure if he should defend himself or not when suddenly Danny grabbed hold of a confused Scott, dragged him to his feet and then punched him square in the face, “You knew! You fucking knew and you did nothing, you son of a bitch, I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!” Danny was raging, Isaac stepping in between the two of them to stop Danny from hitting him again. 

“What the hell is going on here!?” Derek shouted from the doorway and Ethan growled at him, full on growled, this was not good. So not good. 

“You bastard. You sick bastard.” Ethan snarled, “You pretend like you care, you pretend that you give a fuck and you fucking knew, you and Scott, you both fucking knew.”

Oh. Stiles turned to look at Danny and Ethan, they couldn’t know what happened, could they? There was no way for them to know. They couldn’t know. But, what the hell else could they be talking about?

“What are you talking about?” Derek said calmly, surprisingly not even growling in reply to Ethan’s accusation. 

“We’ve seen the videos! We saw what they did! You knew and you left him!” Danny snapped, Isaac the only thing standing between him and Scott. 

“What videos!? What are you fucking on about!?” Scott said, pinching his nose to stop the flow of blood. Stiles however felt nauseous, they couldn’t be talking about the videos, they couldn’t have seen them. Nobody but Scott and Derek had seen them. 

“Really!? That’s how you want to play this McCall!?” Ethan scoffed and Scott winced, last name basis, definitely a bad thing. “We know what you did. What both of you did. You knew the hunters had Stiles. You knew they tortured him. They offered you a deal in exchange for his life and you said no. You left him with them. You knew he was alive and you left him with them! It was your fault he ended up in those fucking rings! You abandoned him!”

There was silence, the pack all look at them in astonishment, Scott and Derek both at a loss for words, how could Danny think that? How could Ethan? Scott found his voice first, growling at Ethan.

“How could you possibly think that? We care about Stiles, we love him, we fucking grieved for him, how could you say that we knew he was alive!? Danny, you saw what his death did to me, to both of us, how could you believe that we’d have left him with hunters!?” Scott ranted. 

“We saw the videos Scott! We know the truth! Don’t try and deny it!” Danny shouted.

“What videos!? I don’t know what the hell you are on about!!” Scott screamed in reply. 

“Enough Scott.” Stiles sighed in defeat, “They know. Okay? Just drop the act.” 

“What act!?” Scott roared, “Stiles, I didn’t know you were alive. I didn’t. I swear to you. I don’t know what the hell they are on about, I don’t know what videos they’re talking about, but, I swear to you that as far as I knew, you were dead. We buried you.” 

“That’s a lie!” Ethan shouted despite the fact that Scott’s heart beat had stayed steady while he was speaking. 

“Maybe you’re confused?” Derek suggested, he knew he was, he had no idea what the hell was going on here.

“And you! Don’t you dare! Don’t pretend you’re innocent in all this. We heard you too, telling them to keep him! You fucking well knew he was alive and you told us all he was dead because it meant you didn’t have to fight any more hunters. You’d rather they tortured him than even attempt to rescue him!” Danny shouted and Derek felt himself lose control, his eyes flashing red before he gritted his teeth and glared at both of them.

“I would never have allowed Stiles to be tortured, never.” He snarled, “If they’d asked me to hand myself over I would have done it without hesitation if it meant he was allowed to go free. But, seems so you are so sure of what a son of a bitch I am, seems so you are so sure that I would allow a member of my pack, that I would allow Stiles, to be tortured then I want to see the evidence. I want to see why you are so convinced that I would ever allow Stiles to be hurt and do nothing about it.” Derek said, allowing his Alpha voice to seep through as Danny turned on his heel and disappeared upstairs. He reappeared a few minutes later, his laptop in his hands as he approached the television and connected a few leads to the laptop. The rest of the pack were waiting hesitantly, looking at Scott and Derek suspiciously, not sure who they should believe, Danny and Ethan sounded so convinced and even Stiles had said that Scott’s innocence was an act. 

“What is this?” Lydia asked, staring at the screen that seemed to be a sent box of some email account.

“The email address for Robin that Stiles gave me, I didn’t find anything about recent activity or anything like that, but, I decided that if I could hack into the account there might be recent emails in there that mentioned where he was staying or something, anything that might give us a lead. I managed to get access this afternoon.” Danny said, looking at the others but pointedly avoiding making eye contact with Derek or Scott, he spoke as if it was a trial and he was trying to convince the jury of their guilt, Derek was staring at the sent box, it was full of emails and they were all addressed to Scott and dated over two years ago, around the time that Stiles was supposedly killed, surely Scott would have mentioned if he’d received emails from the hunters. 

“As you can see, Robin sent Scott emails, one a day actually, for a month, and attached a video to each one. We’ll start on day one.” Ethan explained, Stiles moved towards the kitchen but Erica grabbed him by the arm, holding him in place. 

“You’re not leaving my sight.” She said firmly and Stiles paused before nodding, his gaze fixed on the corner of the room rather than the television. Danny clicked on the email and opened the attachment, the video started playing, it showed a small room, Stiles was tied to a chair, a healing cut on his cheek and his lip split open, he looked younger, more vulnerable. Derek knew it was the Stiles of two years previously, the Stiles that had only just been kidnapped, there was fear in his eyes but also determination, like he believed that Scott or Derek or someone, anyone, would be coming for him any time soon. He had a rag shoved into his mouth, no doubt to keep him quiet and Derek could see two men moving around the room before they finally came into view of the camera. 

“Hello boys, as you can see we’ve got your little friend here with us, Stiles, care to say a few words?” One of the men teased and Stiles attempted to talk through his gag. “John, get the gag.” The man ordered, that must mean that he was Robin, Derek felt like growling just at the sight of him, “Yes Stiles? What did you want to say?” 

“I was going to say that your acting skills suck, but then I figured, the acting speaks for itself so you don’t really need me to tell you that you suck. Plus, did you know the camera adds ten pounds, you may want to lay off the chocolate biscuits.” Stiles retorted and Scott let out a little huff of laughter.

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” 

“I have my moments.” Stiles smirked, Robin backhanded him across the face and Stiles’ head went sideways with the force of it. 

“Now, how about you shut up and let me explain the situation to your friends, or would you prefer another smack?” 

“I’d prefer if you knocked me into unconsciousness so I don’t have to listen to your voice.” Stiles replied sarcastically, spitting out blood. John shoved the gag back into his mouth and Stiles attempted to continue speaking although nobody could make out what he was saying. 

“You know what, this is going to take too long. Let’s just call them.” John snapped and Robin paused for a minute before nodding. 

“Alright, call Scott.” He said, none of them missed the way that Stiles perked up, straightening up and straining against the ropes as if just hearing Scott’s name gave him the strength to carry on. John held up a phone and a moment later they heard it ringing before it connected.

“Hello?” Scott’s voice came over the phone and the pack all looked at him in surprise, Scott was staring at the screen, transfixed and terrified. 

“Scott McCall, pleasure to speak to you, I have a friend of yours here and we’d like to make a deal. Is your Alpha around?” 

“A friend?” Scott asked in confusion.

“Stiles, if you must know, now, is Derek around or not?” 

“How do I know you have him?” Scott asked, Robin smirked, pulling the gag from Stiles’ mouth and instantly slamming a knife down into his thigh, Stiles screamed in pain, his wrists pulling against the ropes as he tried to pull away from the pain before Robin shoved the gag back into his mouth. It made Derek’s ears hurt and he winced at the sound, looking across at Stiles who was still looking resolutely at the corner of the room, evidently oblivious to the pack that were all staring at him in horror. “Okay, I get it. Hang on.” There was silence for a minute and then Derek’s voice came over the phone.

“What do you want?” 

“Simple. I want to offer a trade. One human for another.” John grinned.

“Gerard is dead.” 

“Well, it’s a good thing I don’t want him then, isn’t it?”

“Who?” 

“Allison. I’ll make you a deal, you give me Allison and I’ll give you Stiles, mostly in tact.” John teased, they could all hear Scott shout a loud denial in the background, it was obvious he didn’t want to agree with the trade.

“I want to speak to him.” Derek growled. 

“He can hear you.” 

“I want him to speak.” Derek amended and Robin rolled his eyes before he pulled the gag from Stiles’ mouth.

“Derek, don’t do it…” Stiles started before he was silenced with another smack to the face. 

“Stiles, we won’t trade Allison for you.” Derek said solemnly and Stiles nodded in agreement. 

“Really?” John asked, “You’d rather we torture your little human here? Beat him until he eventually dies?” 

“Do what you want with him. He was never part of my pack anyway.” Derek replied before the call disconnected and Robin, John and Stiles all stared at it in surprise. 

“Well, I guess you don’t matter that much to him anyway.” Robin said, pulling the gag from Stiles’ mouth, “I thought you were supposed to be like a pet to them?”

“They won’t make the trade.” Stiles said sounding confident even if the worry showed in his eyes, “But it doesn’t mean you won’t die. They’ll kill you.” 

“You believe that? Your Alpha, sorry, no, THE Alpha, just told us that you were never part of his pack and that we could do whatever we want to you, and you believe that they’re still going to kill us to get you back? They don’t care about you.” John taunted and Stiles glared at him.

“No. They don’t care about me as much as they care about Allison but it doesn’t mean they don’t care. They won’t agree to the trade but you can bet your life they’ll come for me, so you can do whatever you want, because when they get here, which they will, they’ll make you pay ten times over for every little thing you do to me.” Stiles snarled before screaming in pain again when Robin yanked the knife out of his leg.

“I’ll guess we’ll have to wait and see won’t we.” Robin said, stroking a finger across Stiles’ bruised cheek before he strolled over to the camera and turned it off. 

There was silence in the living room as they all processed what they’d just witnessed, Noah’s eyes were glowing blue and he was snarling at Derek in anger. 

“You knew. You knew my son was alive and you let them torture him.” Noah growled dangerously.

“No.” Derek said firmly, trying to figure out how they’d got his voice, or Scott’s voice, to say those things, because, no, he’d never had that conversation, he hadn’t known Stiles was alive, hell, he would have handed Allison over in a second if it meant getting Stiles back. He looked at Stiles who was still staring at the corner of the room and gritting his teeth as if trying to hold in his anger at the situation. “I don’t know who that was, but it wasn’t my voice and I’m certain it wasn’t Scott’s either.” 

“So what? They found someone to impersonate your voices just to mess with Stiles’ head?” Jackson snapped.

“I don’t know.” Derek argued, “I don’t know how the hell they did that but I swear to you all, I did not know that Stiles was alive. I swear. If I’d known,” He paused, he couldn’t exactly say that he would have handed Allison over, that probably wouldn’t go down well. “If I had known he was alive I wouldn’t have stopped until he was back with us. I don’t know what the hell that was, how they did that, but, I had no idea Stiles was alive until we found him at the auction.” Derek said honestly. The pack were obviously still suspicious but Noah’s eyes had at least returned to normal as he moved and put an arm around Stiles’ shoulders. Stiles had still not said a word and Derek felt physical pain at that. 

“Play the next one.” Lydia demanded and Danny looked around at the others before his gaze settled on Stiles, Stiles looked up at him and gave him a brief nod before turning to the kitchen again. His meaning was clear, do it if you must but I don’t want to see it, I don’t want to be here. The only reason he hadn’t already left was because Erica was clutching tightly to his hand. 

“I don’t think that’s a good…” Scott said and Lydia glared at him.

“I want more evidence. We don’t know if you and Derek kept Stiles from us so you’ll excuse me if I don’t take your opinion into account right now.” Lydia retorted angrily and Scott mumbled something quietly before turning his attention back to the television.

The second video was equally as brutal, the hunters doing nothing more than beating the shit out of Stiles until he was barely conscious, they didn’t call Derek or Scott, didn’t offer anything, just spat insults at Stiles as they beat him repeatedly. Derek could see what they were doing, they were trying to break Stiles, but they weren’t succeeding, not yet anyway. 

By the fifth video Cora was growling at the screen, Scott looked on the verge of being sick, Peter was clenching his fists so tightly that Derek could smell blood and Derek, well, Derek was trembling. Stiles was covered in cuts and bruises, he looked exhausted, like he’d barely slept since he’d been taken, and yet, somehow, he was still convinced they were coming. Robin and John rang Scott and Derek again, offered them the deal again, stabbed the knife into Stiles’ leg again, Stiles seemed to know what was coming this time though, instead of screaming he let out a pained grunt before he managed to grit his teeth together and glare at the hunters. Robin smirked, placing the palm of his hand on Stiles’ leg and running it slightly upwards, past the knife, towards his crotch, Stiles continued to glare at him and John rolled his eyes, telling Robin to knock it off. Stiles had looked almost relieved at that.

“Derek! Don’t! They’re going to...” Stiles shouted, his words cut off by a vicious blow to the face from Robin, his voice had sounded weak but his conviction was strong, he didn’t want them to trade him for Allison, he wouldn’t let them make the trade. It made Derek hate these hunters with everything he had. If they’d only offered, god, he would have made the trade in a heartbeat. It wasn’t fair. 

“Keep him.” Derek snarled before the call disconnected and Stiles grinned, he fucking grinned like he was the victorious one, right before Robin punched him so hard that it knocked the chair over backwards and Stiles’ head hit the ground with a resounding thud before he blacked out.

“I can’t watch any more of this.” Allison muttered and Lydia glared at her. 

“Then leave.” She snapped, Allison looked at her with wide eyes before she straightened in her seat and turned her attention back to the television. 

On the seventeenth day Stiles actually laughed when John and Robin said that they weren’t coming, Stiles had so much faith in them, Derek hated it, Stiles had thought they were coming, thought he just had to hold out until they found him, until they came up with a plan, and none of them were coming, none of them had known he was alive, it was all his fault, god, it was all his fault. 

“They’re coming and they’re going to tear you apart.” Stiles spat through bloodied teeth, “I’m going to watch, hell, I’m going to join in. It’ll be fun.” He smirked. 

By the twenty fifth day it was becoming evident that Stiles was worried, there were no more smart remarks, there was fear in his eyes when Derek once again told Robin and John that they weren’t willing to make the trade. It looked like he was wondering when the hell they were going to get their asses in gear and get him out of there and yet, still, he didn’t show any fear to Robin and John, he refused to back down, refused to admit that they might be right, no, he had faith in his pack. They were coming for him.

By the time they got to the last video it was the middle of the night, none of them had thought about going to bed, they needed to see how it ended, what changed that the hunters had decided to take Stiles to the rings instead of keeping him and torturing him. Stiles hadn’t spoken a word since this whole thing began and Derek could smell the worry coming from all the pack, he wasn’t sure what he could say though, Stiles had held out for a month of torture believing that someone was coming for him and nobody, none of them, had even looked for him. 

This video started differently to all the others, Stiles was still tied to the chair but he was facing a television set, the camera angle gave a clear view of both the screen and Stiles’ face, Derek was sure that whatever was coming wouldn’t be good.

“Please tell me you don’t still believe they’re coming for you?” Robin taunted and Stiles glared at him as best he could through his blackened eyes and his split lip. 

“Fuck you.” He snarled, his voice sounded broken, harsh, as if he was having trouble breathing, he’d lost weight in the time they’d held him, he hadn’t starved so they obviously had been feeding him, but it wasn’t much, wasn’t enough. Stiles had always been skinny, but by now he looked frail, too skinny, ill. Derek didn’t like it. But they hadn’t broken him. Not yet. That much was obvious. No matter what, they hadn’t broken Stiles, he still believed in them. 

“Alright, time for a reality check.” Robin smirked, turning on the television and the pack stared in horror as the inside of a church appeared, not just any church though, it was the same church where they had held Stiles’ funeral and they all watched in despair as one by one people began to file into the church, until, eventually, the pack turned up along with the coffin that held what they had believed to be Stiles’ body.

Stiles watched the scene in silence, studying the faces on the screen, watching as Scott gave the eulogy, as his dad sat and sobbed in his seat, as the pack did their best to comfort him. Stiles gritted his teeth and Derek saw himself wince on the screen, as if something had just broken inside of him, he remembered that moment, the moment it felt like Stiles was really gone, like the bond between them was completely shattered. 

He realised then what had happened, this was the moment that Stiles stopped believing they were coming, this was when Stiles lost his faith in Derek and Derek had felt it like a physical thing but was too wrapped up in his grief to realise what it had meant. God, he was such a moron. If he’d realised then they could have gone after Stiles, could have saved him from the horrors he’d face. He should have realised.

John leaned over and turned the screen off when the church had emptied and Stiles stared at both of them with blank eyes. 

“Do you get it now? They’re not coming for you. They’ve told your father you’re dead. They’ve told everyone you are dead. You are nothing to them. They don’t care about you, they never did. They’d rather we torture you than even think about rescuing you.” Robin smiled and Stiles glared at him. 

“Okay, so what happens now? You kill me? Because, honestly, everyone bar Scott and Derek already think I’m dead so it’s not like finding my body is going to be any shock to them. And also, I’d rather die than have to look at either of you for any longer, so, I’d really appreciate it if we could just get this over with already.” Stiles replied, refusing to show how upset and betrayed he felt. None of the pack missed what he had said though, that he believed that it was only Scott and Derek that had abandoned him, that they hadn’t told the rest of the pack he was alive. 

“Oh, we’re not going to kill you Stiles. Although, by the time we’re done with you you’d wish you were dead. John, pack your bags, it’s time to make the trip.” 

“Trip? Trip where?” Stiles asked sounding nervous for the first time since this whole thing started.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Robin replied before he smacked Stiles hard across the face and the chair fell to the floor again, Stiles lay unconscious and the video ended.

There was silence, the whole pack trying to process what they had witnessed in the videos, Scott made to move towards Stiles and every wolf in the vicinity growled, Danny stepping in between them, protecting Stiles from Scott and even Lydia and Allison were both glaring at him like they wanted him dead and Melissa was staring at him like she’d never seen him before, Kira hovering nervously at his side but not holding his hand tightly like she normally would. Scott had tears rolling down his cheeks and he looked to Derek for guidance, Derek didn’t know what to do, somehow, the hunters had managed to duplicate their voices and Stiles had been the one to pay for that. There would never be any way to make this right.

“Stiles, please, you have to believe me, I wouldn’t, I couldn’t, I didn’t do this. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t us. We didn’t know you were alive.” Scott pleaded and Stiles sighed heavily, looking at the pack around him, looking at how divided they were and knew that it was his fault, he never should have given Danny that email address. He knew the only way to resolve this, to keep the pack together, was to mend things with Scott and Derek, or at least pretend to.

“I know. I believe you.” Stiles said a minute later, hoping his heartbeat stayed steady and Scott smiled at him gratefully, Derek however heard the lie in your words.

“You’re lying. You think this was us.” Derek growled and Stiles glared at him. “What are you trying to achieve by lying? You lost faith in us and rightly so, and you haven’t got it back. That’s why you wouldn’t tell me your other escape plan, that’s why you wouldn’t even consider becoming my emissary, because you don’t trust us and that’s fine. It’s fine you don’t trust us Stiles because you think that we left you with the hunters, you think we left you there to be tortured. So I get it, I get why you don’t trust us. But you’re wrong, it wasn’t us, Stiles, I don’t know how they did that with our voices, I have no idea, but, I swear to you, I swear on my life, that whoever was speaking in that phone call, it wasn’t me and it wasn’t Scott. I swear to you. I know that won’t mean anything, not after I failed you so badly, but, I swear that I did not know you were alive. Neither of us did.” Derek said solemnly, unsure what else he could do or say to make Stiles believe him.

Stiles stared at him in silence and Derek couldn’t think out what that meant, if it meant that Stiles believed him or if he was thinking of all the different ways he could kill Derek, minutes passed and there was still no words and Derek shifted uncomfortably. If Stiles wanted to attack him he wouldn’t blame him. 

“There’s a couple of ways we can prove if it was Derek and Scott.” Lydia said tightly and everyone turned to look at her with wide eyes, “First, we pull up Scott’s phone records, see if he received any calls from unknown numbers during the time period when these emails were sent. Second, we send an email to Scott’s address from this account. If he receives it…” Lydia let her voice trail off.

“Yes. Yes, that’s brilliant Lydia.” Scott said excitedly, “Because I didn’t, I didn’t get any calls and I didn’t get any emails and this, this will prove it. This will prove it Stiles. I swear to you I didn’t abandon you. I swear.” Scott said earnestly and Stiles wanted so badly to believe him, wanted to believe that the boy he’d known, his best friend, his brother, was still there, had never abandoned him and left him alone with those hunters, but, he just, he couldn’t, he’d believed in him before and it had ended with pain and humiliation. 

“Danny, how long will it take?” Stiles asked and Danny cleared his throat, glancing around at the pack.

“A few minutes, I can send the email now and it won’t take long to pull up Scott’s call history, I can run a programme that eliminates all of our numbers and anything left we can run through and see if there’s anything that jumps out at us.” Danny explained. 

“Do it.” Derek growled, he wanted this cleared up now, he didn’t think he would survive going another moment knowing that Stiles didn’t believe them. Danny got to work, sending an email to Scott within thirty seconds and already pulling up his phone records, Scott evidently hadn’t changed his username or password since high school which for some reason both Peter and Stiles snorted at. Scott handed his phone over to Ethan, to show that he wasn’t going to tamper with it in any way should the email come in and then it was a waiting game. 

Danny’s fingers flew over the keyboard and his frown deepened as he scrolled through the data, opening a second screen that was showing code that whizzed by too quickly for Derek to even attempt to understand it. The pack were all waiting hesitantly, Stiles kept shooting glances at Scott and Derek as if reassessing them, reassessing their innocence and their actions since they’d found him in the rings. Derek knew he was doing it too, he couldn’t believe that Stiles hadn’t killed him outright, that he’d come home with them and lived with them and the entire time he’d believed that they’d betrayed him, it shouldn’t surprise Derek, after all, Stiles had never once mentioned what Braeden did and she mattered so little to the pack that of course he wouldn’t want the rest of the pack in uproar over Derek and Scott’s actions. It was just like him to put the needs of the pack ahead of his own needs and, if at all possible, Derek think he fell in love with Stiles just a little bit more in that moment. 

“There’s still no email come through.” Ethan muttered quietly almost twenty minutes later and Danny frowned, going back to the email account and pulling up another screen of code, scrolling through it, whatever he was reading made him pale slightly and Derek smelt the guilt washing over him instantly. 

“You’ve found something?” Derek asked without preamble and Danny nodded, turning to Stiles instead.

“They were smart Stiles, really smart, the call history shows calls being received by Scott’s phone around the time the calls were made, but, they didn’t call him, it’s actually a very clever virus that they’ve adapted, basically putting the calls in the call history without the phone ever receiving them, they only needed to be within fifty feet of Scott and they could have done it, probably the night of the lacrosse game.” 

“And the emails?” Jackson asked.

“They’re faked too. They’re sent to Scott’s email address but they’re rerouted to a different email address before he receives them and then rerouted again, it’ll take me a while to get to the actual account but, yeah, Scott and Derek never got those emails or phone calls.”

“What about their voices?” Isaac asked, “How did they fake that?” 

“I don’t know.” Danny admitted, “I mean, they obviously did, somehow, but, I don’t know how, perhaps another sort of bug or virus? Or, I mean, voice modulator? They were obviously very clever.” He looked across at Scott and Derek, eyes full of guilt, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for accusing you, I should have gotten more evidence first, I was just, I was so angry, I thought, I thought you’d left him alone with them.” 

“It’s not your fault Danny.” Derek said, taking a step towards him and clapping a hand on his shoulder in comfort, “You did the right thing with the information you had, and, well, we know the truth now and that’s what is important.” He said, looking at Stiles who was looking between the screen and Scott in wonder. 

“So, you’re definite?” Stiles asked in a voice that sounded on the verge of breaking and Danny nodded firmly. Stiles nodded once before he moved forwards, pulling Scott into a tight hug and holding onto him tightly, Scott freezing for a moment before he clung back just as tightly, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I should have known, I thought, I just, I’m sorry Scotty, I’m sorry I’ve been such a dick to you, I’m sorry I’ve treated you like crap, I’m, god, I’m so sorry.” Stiles sobbed, outright sobbed, onto Scott’s shoulder and Scott held him tightly and shushed him, telling him it was fine and holding Stiles as if he was afraid if he let go they would both fall apart completely, his own tears running quickly down his cheeks. 

“It’s okay Stiles, I promise, it’s okay, you’re here now, you’re back with us and that’s all that matters. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. I’m sorry, I should have known, I should have realised and I’m so sorry.” Scott whispered and Stiles clung to him for a few more minutes before he finally began to relax his grip, swiping at the tear tracks on his face and turning to face Derek.

“I’m sorry Derek. I’ve acted, I haven’t, I’m sorry.” Stiles said stiltedly and Derek rolled his eyes before he tugged Stiles forwards and hugged him just as tightly as Scott had. Stiles tensed for a moment before he relaxed into the hug, wrapping his arms around Derek, his head buried in his shoulder and his slightly smaller form shaking minutely from relief or exhaustion, Derek wasn’t sure which. He felt a burn in his chest a moment later and his breath caught, it was a pack bond forming, or reforming as the case was. It took his breath away, he felt it solidify and burn brightly, just as brightly as all the others, maybe even more so, and, somehow, he knew that Stiles had forgiven him, that Stiles had faith in him again. Derek didn’t know how that was possible, how Stiles could possibly forgive him so easily, but he couldn’t even begin to form the question because the bond burned and it actually kind of hurt a little with the intensity of it. 

“Um, guys, what’s going on?” Scott asked sounding nervous, Derek’s vision went red and when he looked around the rest of his pack were all sporting flashing eyes of one kind or another, Stiles pulled away from him a moment later and Derek thought he may have let out a little whine at the sudden loss of contact but if he did, Stiles didn’t seem to notice. Instead Stiles wiped a hand across his face to remove the evidence of his tears and took a calming breath, his eyes fading from gold back to their normal amber. 

“Sorry, I think that was me, I mean, I’m not sure, but, erm, my chest,” Stiles said, rubbing his chest in the same place as Derek’s chest ached, it now reducing to a warm buzz, “I, um, I’m not sure what that was.” 

“The pack bond.” Derek confessed and Stiles looked at him in confusion, “The day of your funeral, I felt it break, when you realised that we weren’t coming, I didn’t, I didn’t know what it meant, I thought it was because the funeral made it real, that you were really gone, and, I was so wrapped up in my grief, I didn’t, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry Stiles. I would have, if I’d known…”

“It’s okay.” Stiles reassured him, “And, anyway, I’m the one that doubted you, that lost faith, not you.” 

“You had every right to lose your faith in us. You thought we’d left you, you had evidence that we’d left you, it’s not your fault, but, anyway, I felt it break, and, now, well, I think, I think that was it coming back.” Derek explained.

“And the rest of us felt it because?” Erica asked and Derek shrugged.

“Probably because Stiles was Derek’s first beta.” Peter replied and everyone looked at him in shock, “Like you guys didn’t realise this already? Stiles was the only one to truly have Derek’s back when I was crazy, when he became the Alpha, Stiles was there, he helped Derek kill me, Derek’s wolf recognised him as a packmate there and then, their first beta. The bond is always strongest between the Alpha and their first beta, I mean, admittedly, the bond between the Alpha and their mate is stronger, but, that’s not what we’re discussing here.” Derek was quite proud of the way he didn’t blush but it was a close thing.

“Really?” Stiles said in surprise, “I figured you only put up with me to try and get Scott on side.” Stiles tried to joke, tried to lighten the mood. It made Derek’s wolf whine, he never wanted Stiles to think like that, Stiles was the most important thing, the only thing that mattered. The joke fell flat and Stiles shifted uncomfortably before Allison cleared her throat and looked at him seriously.

“Stiles, what did they…you said that they…did you know why they wanted to make a trade?” She managed eventually and Stiles frowned, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought about her question.

“Yeah, well, I mean, they told me why they wanted to trade me for you, but, since I know now that they weren’t actually making the offer to Scott and Derek, I, um, I don’t know how accurate it is, maybe they just wanted to give me a reason as to why they wanted the trade, to make me believe them, and, well, I did believe them.” Stiles admitted.

“And you didn’t want us to make the trade.” Scott said seriously and Stiles nodded.

“It wasn’t worth it, I mean, I know, at that point, I still thought Allison was on Gerard’s side and all of that, but, you know, I knew you, I knew you were a good person who was hurting after her mom died, and, well, I didn’t want you to have to go through what they were planning, you didn’t deserve it. It wasn’t worth making the trade, I wasn’t worth you having to risk going through what they were planning to do.” Stiles admitted and the pack all growled in unison at those words. 

“Never think like that.” Allison said shocked, “Stiles, you are worth it, if we’d known I would have offered myself up, I swear to you, you are worth it, you are so freaking worth it, if it meant dying, then that would have been okay, well, not okay I guess, I’d try and make that a last case scenario.” She added when Isaac growled, “But, I’d have been willing to risk my life it meant getting you back.” She said solemnly and Stiles believed her, believed the sincerity of her words and it made his chest ache. Allison was such a good person, the whole pack were, sure they all had their flaws, but, deep down, in the case of Peter way deep down, they were all good people with good hearts. Stiles knew he wasn’t. They shouldn’t have to put up with him, shouldn’t have to surround themselves with someone so truly broken. 

“So, what did they say they wanted with her?” Isaac asked, putting a protective arm around Allison’s shoulders as if afraid Robin was about to appear and try to snatch her away, Allison rolled her eyes but gave Isaac a fond smile and leaned into the contact.

“They, well, um, they were, they wanted an Argent.” Stiles said quickly and Allison raised a querying eyebrow, obviously confused as to what they could have wanted an Argent for and Stiles knew he was going to have to give a more detailed explanation, “Because they wanted a, erm, a force to rally behind? So, they were planning on using Allison, using her name to gather troops, and, it’s not, they wanted to continue on the name if you get my point?” Stiles said nervously.

“Oh.” Allison said, her face paling as Isaac stared at Stiles in confusion. “So, um, I’m guessing marriage of some kind first though, right? So that one of them had the Argent name as well as whatever kids we had?” Isaac growled and Stiles held his hands up in surrender.

“Dude, chill, besides, John is dead, and Robin, well, he will die long before he ever lays a hand on her.” Stiles said seriously and Isaac paused, as if considering Stiles’ words before he nodded, it was obvious that Stiles wanted Robin dead for a lot more reasons that just threatening to rape Allison, hell, they all wanted him dead for what he’d done to Stiles. 

“Um, guys?” Danny whispered, clearing his throat and nodding his head towards the computer screen where a new email had appeared. 

“What does it say?” Melissa asked and Danny looked to Stiles who nodded before he clicked it open. 

There was silence as everyone read through the email, Stiles staring at the screen and feeling each word cut into him like a physical pain. He should have realised, he should have known that Scott and Derek would have never abandoned him like that.

‘Took you long enough to figure it out Kid, and here I was thinking you were the smart one. I thought you would have been searching for me the second you got out of that ring, I mean, we spent so many good times together, of course, the pleasure of your first time was always supposed to go to me, Marcus knew that, no matter what he said, it was always going to be me, especially after all the times we spent together, it was always supposed to be me, and then, I take a few weeks off and I find out that not only did you get auctioned off, but that it was your precious Alpha that got to have the pleasure. I wonder if he made it as good for you as I could have done? Maybe we’ll find out. Maybe I’ll make you beg, like I did so many times before. Maybe I’ll fuck you raw, make you scream with pain, wouldn’t that be fun? You know, after all the things we shared together I really believed searching for me would have been your priority. But, no, you had to go running back to your pack of mutts. You think they want you? You think they would keep you there if they knew what you were really like? Don’t forget Kid, I know you. I’ve seen the darkness in you. I know that whatever soul you had, you lost it. You’re evil Stiles. You don’t deserve them. If they had any idea what you were really like they would cast you out in an instant. They’d hate you. You’ll realise soon enough, you aren’t good enough for them, you’re not good period. I’ve spent many nights jerking off at the thought of just how not good you are, most of the time I watch some of our old videos, you have no idea how much that gets me going, hell, the thought of it is enough to get me hard right now. I’ll be seeing you soon enough Kid, if I don’t see some of your precious pack first.’ 

Stiles finished reading the email, ignoring the whimpers of the wolves in the room, there was a video attached and Danny had moved the cursor to hover over it, Stiles felt sick, he wondered what the hell was on the video, he wondered if it was Robin, or if it was something worse, he knew he had to see it, it was the only way to be able to put his mind at rest, but, he wasn’t sure he wanted everyone else to see it. 

“What does he mean about making you beg? About the good times together?” Noah asked and Stiles clenched his fists, his whole body radiating tension.

“It’s not important.” Stiles whispered and Noah growled.

“It damn well is important!” He seethed, “What the hell did he do to you Stiles?” 

“Nothing worse than a lot of the other crap I’ve dealt with since then dad.” Stiles sighed heavily and Noah deflated, wanting nothing more than to pull Stiles into a hug, wrap him in bubble wrap and protect him from the rest of the world for as long as he could.

“Do you want to, um, do you want me to open it?” Danny asked nervously, looking to Derek this time. Derek turned to Stiles for guidance and Stiles felt his stomach flip unexpectedly, he’d always thought a lot of Derek, hell, he’d thought at one point that he could have been in love with him, and then he’d believed that Derek had betrayed him and anything he might have felt had left him, and the next two years hadn’t exactly been a conducive environment to build relationships with people, in fact, he’d not thought of anyone like that in so long that the odd flip in his stomach made him feel a little queasy, although he guessed that could have been to do with whatever was on the video. 

“Stiles?” Derek asked and Stiles realised he must have gotten lost in his own thoughts for a second. “You know he’s wrong, don’t you?” 

“About what?” Stiles asked, licking his lips nervously as his gaze flicked between Derek and the email. 

“There is never anything you could do that would make me, or any of us, hate you. And we would never, never, cast you out. You know that, right?” 

“You don’t know what I’ve done.” Stiles replied in an almost hysterical laugh, god, the things he’d done, the things he’d had to do to stay alive, and he’d had to survive, he’d had to make them pay and he couldn’t do that if he was dead, he’d had to do it, had to do all of it. 

“Maybe not. But I know you Stiles, we all do. The one thing that you aren’t, that you could never be, is evil. Nothing you’ve done, or are going to do in the future, will ever make me believe that.” Derek said seriously and Stiles wanted to believe him, wanted to believe him so badly but he just, he knew the truth, he knew what he was, knew what he’d become in those rings. 

“Derek’s right Stiles.” Cora said, “I didn’t know you before you were taken, but, I know you now, and I know that the last thing you are is evil, a bit damaged maybe, but, which one of us isn’t? And, really, after those rings, who wouldn’t be? But, you’re not evil Stiles. Robin is just trying to get under your skin.” 

“I’ve killed people. A lot of people. And, I feel bad about it, but not enough to let them live, it was me or them, and, I, I wanted to live.” He confessed honestly. 

“Stiles, you are not evil for wanting to live.” Lydia scolded him. “You told us about Bethany, how you were willing to die so that she could live and they took that away from you too. Choosing to live, if only to get revenge on the people who forced you to do those things, there’s nothing wrong with that Stiles. It doesn’t make you evil.” Stiles nodded, trying to convince himself that he believed her, believed them. 

“Alright, um, I guess, we watch it then.” Stiles said awkwardly, shifting his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot as Danny nodded and loaded the video, before the pack turned their attention to the screen. 

The screen was black for a few moments but they could hear shuffling in the back ground before finally a picture appeared, Robin’s grinning face was looking directly at them, John was driving behind him, they looked to be in some kind of van, it looked like it could have been any old road trip. 

“Hey there viewers, we’re currently on our way to Mexico, just crossed the border, didn’t even get searched, probably could have come down before the funeral, but, Christ, the look on the kid’s face when he saw them all gathered there, it was so fucking worth it. He’s right here with us now.” Robin said, swinging the camera around to the back of the van where Stiles was bound and gagged and unconscious, his hands tied behind his back and his ankles tied together with another rope pulling his ankles to his hands so that his movement was completely restricted. “You think we should wake him up?” Robin asked.

“Go for it. We can have some fun before we get to Marcus.” John smirked. Robin climbed over the back of the seat and into the back of the van. He swayed slightly with the movement of the van but managed to make it to Stiles easily enough, the camera zooming in on his face before Robin huffed out a laugh and settled himself on top of him, sitting on Stiles’ chest so that his face was almost shoved into Robin’s crotch. Stiles’ eyes scrunched tighter together, as if he was trying to wake himself up, Robin smacked him hard across the face and Stiles’ eyes shot open, wide with fear, instantly he was bucking upwards, trying to shake the weight from his chest, trying to dislodge Robin from his position. 

“That’s it kid, you fight me as much as you want.” Robin taunted, pressing his weight down more as Stiles started to go red as he struggled for breath. “Yeah, that’s it, god.” Robin moaned, reaching down to stroke himself through his jeans, Stiles froze, his eyes darting between Robin and the camera, the fear in his eyes obvious for them all to see. “I’ve thought of a new use we could have for that mouth of yours.” Robin taunted and Stiles looked terrified. 

Robin moved his hand, undoing the zip on his jeans so it was clear to see the outline of his hard cock through his boxers, Stiles bucked again, trying to throw him off, his eyes wide with terror and the inability to understand why Robin was doing this. 

“Why don’t you beg me?” Robin smirked, moving to undo the gag that kept Stiles quiet, “Beg me not to and maybe I’ll be nice.” The gag came undone and Stiles sucked in a ragged breath, his eyes still fixed on Robin’s groin. 

“Please.” Stiles’ voice was small and broken and he practically whimpered with fear, “Please, please don’t.” Robin groaned, rocking himself forward so that the fabric of his boxers brushed against Stiles’ mouth. 

“Jesus, that sounds so good, say it again kid, beg me again.” Robin smirked and Stiles stared at him in horror, his mouth snapping shut and his lips pressing into a firm line as he renewed his struggled to push Robin off him. “I said,” Robin growled, smacking Stiles around the face and then stroking his reddened cheek almost softly, “Say it again.” 

“Fuck you.” Stiles snarled as angrily as he could. Robin let out a huff of laughter and reached down, undoing the button on his jeans. The screen went blank for a moment and then changed suddenly, instead of being in the van they were looking down at the main arena, the sun shining down from the sky above them.

“So you think he’ll be good entertainment?” A voice said off screen, Derek recognised it as Marcus. 

“Yeah, yeah, I think you’ll like him.” Robin said excitedly.

“Alright, we’ll put him in, see how he goes on.” Marcus retorted. The screen changed again, there were screaming crowds gathered around the arena now and the camera zoomed in on the arena, Stiles had been shoved through a gate and had stumbled slightly, staring around at the arena, he was stripped to a pair of shorts and nothing else, no knife, no nothing, there were still healing bruises on his torso and his face so Derek didn’t think much time had passed since. Another gladiator entered the arena from the other gate and moved towards Stiles who looked terrified, they could hear Robin’s excited breathing from behind the camera, saw the way his hand drifted down to his crotch and rubbed it roughly, a groan of pleasure echoing in their ears a moment later. 

“Look, dude, I don’t know what’s going on here.” Stiles began, staring at the claws on the werewolf’s hands and taking a step sideways, trying to keep a reasonable distance between them, “I don’t know what they’ve done to you, but, I’m not like them, I don’t want to fight you, okay? I mean, I like werewolves man, back home there’s a whole pack of them and you know, I get on with them, my best friend is one, I mean, he was my best friend, but, like, that’s not my fault. I would still be friends with him, he chose not to be friends anymore, and, like, seriously, dude, I don’t want to fight.” Stiles rambled, backing up as the werewolf prowled closer. Robin was jerking himself off now, the camera still zoomed in on Stiles’ terrified features. The werewolf pounced and Stiles only just managed to dodge out of the way, he had nothing to fight with, no way to defend himself, everyone watching knew it was only a matter of time before Stiles lost. 

As it was it took eight minutes, Stiles was good at evading if nothing else, until, eventually, he made a mistake and the werewolf’s claws ripped him open from his shoulder to his hip, Stiles let out a scream of pain and collapsed to the ground, silent as he lost consciousness, Robin chose that moment to cum and he turned the camera slightly so that the camera showed Stiles’ bleeding form and his cock covered in cum. It made Derek feel sick. 

The next clip was Stiles trapped in a cage, he was crammed in so tightly that it was a wonder he could breathe and he was hanging above the camera, glaring at Robin with hatred.

“Come on Kid, lighten up a little.” Robin laughed, jabbing a cattle prod up and into Stiles’ side, Stiles screamed in pain, his body doing its best to arch away from the pain except there was no room for him to move.

“Fuck you.” Stiles panted as he tried to get his breathing back under control.

“Oh, I will do, just not yet.” Robin teased as he rammed the cattle prod forward again. 

The screen changed again, this time showing Stiles in a different arena, he had his arm guards on this time, the scars across his chest had been healed and he had a small knife in his hand, the pack watched in silence as it was announced that it would be a fight to the death and the Stiles in the arena went white, looking between the small knife in his hand and the huge werewolf that stood on the other side of the arena. 

It was a long fight, Stiles dodged and weaved and barely got out of the way of the guy’s claws, he had a few scratches along his arms and another across the back of his neck and he was panting heavily, still trying to reason with the guy, explain that they didn’t have to do this. When Stiles killed the werewolf it was an accident, they could all see that, the werewolf pounced and Stiles knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of the way in time, he raised his arms in a last ditch attempt to protect himself and the werewolf ending up with a knife impaled through his eye. He landed on top of Stiles and they went down in a tangle of limbs, Stiles wriggling his way out from under the lifeless body and climbing to his feet, staring down at the werewolf in shock before promptly turning around and throwing up on the ground. 

The screen changed again and this time it was Robin’s face again, smirking at the camera.

“So The Kid won his first fight to the death, Marcus is pretty damn happy with me right now, bringing him such a good human, he says I get to play with him tonight, I’m not allowed to fuck him yet, apparently that’s got to wait for the right time, but, I get to do whatever else I like.” Robin grinned widely, “He’s getting cleaned up right now, I’m going to go help.” Robin turned the camera to a door and pushed it open, there was four rows of five bathtubs filling the room, there was a gladiator in most of them although they weren’t all full, chains around their wrists keeping their arms out of the baths and more chains around their ankles to stop them from moving. 

Robin trained the camera on each of them as he walked past, sometimes trailing a hand through their hair as he went by and chuckling when they flinched away from the contact. There were several guards moving around the room, cleaning each gladiator before moving onto the next one, they had just reached Stiles when Robin got there, Stiles was putting up a fight, splashing water everywhere as he tried to keep them away from him. 

“Why don’t you leave him to me? Marcus said I could have him.” Robin explained and the guards looked from Stiles to Robin before sighing, nodding, and going on their way. “So, Kid, you ready to get clean?” Robin said, placing the camera down so that they could see Stiles in the bath and Robin move towards him. 

“Stay the fuck away from me.” Stiles growled, pulling on the chains holding him in place and getting nowhere. 

“That’s not very nice Kid.” Robin smirked, picking up a small jug and filling it with cold water before he tipped it over Stiles’ head. Stiles gasped, shaking his head to try and clear the water from his eyes, pulling harder on the chains when Robin ran his hands along Stiles’ bare shoulders. “You know, when you use cold water it means you need to scrub harder to get all that blood and dirt off, and look at you, all covered in it.” Robin taunted, his fingers moving down Stiles’ chest and disappearing into the water and wrapping his hand around Stiles’ cock. Stiles jerked, the water splashing as he tried to move away from Robin before Robin scowled and Stiles stilled, his face contorting in pain when Robin squeezed tightly. “Good boy, god, you are such a good boy, look at you, you know what you do to me?” Robin grinned and Stiles glared at him. 

“I assume you mean getting you arrested for child molestation? Because, yeah, that’s going to fucking happen the second I get out of here if you don’t take your hand off me right now.” Stiles snapped, sounding like he was in pain. 

“Aww, it’s cute how you think you’re going to get out of here Kid. You’re not. You’re going to stay here for as long as I want you to, but, maybe, maybe you could be good to me and I’ll be good to you. So, I’ll make you an offer. You don’t have to stay in the rings, you don’t have to fight, you could be with me instead.” Robin smiled, stroking his hand up and down Stiles’ cock, Stiles winced at the feeling because it was too tight and it fucking hurt and he didn’t want Robin anywhere near him, but the idea of not having to fight, not having to fear for his life, it was, it was tempting. 

“What do you mean?” Stiles asked through gritted teeth. 

“I mean, I’ll unchain you right now, take you upstairs to my rooms and fuck you until neither of us can move, and you’ll be mine, if I want to bend you over the side of the arena and fuck you in front of everyone there I will do, if I want you to suck my cock until I cum, you will do. You’ll do anything and everything I say, whenever and wherever I say. And, in exchange, I make sure you never have to fight again, you’ll have a warm bed to sleep in and three meals a day and you’ll never have to fear for your life again, you’ll be safe. I’ll even, after a while, consider taking your collar off, and then everyone will know you’ll be with me by choice, all you have to do is say yes Kid. That’s it. Just say yes to me.” Robin explained, his voice lowered seductively, his hand still moving up and down Stiles’ cock. 

“My name is Stiles and I’d rather fucking die than be your bitch.” Stiles spat angrily, surging forward and headbutting Robin square in the face, grinning victoriously as blood spurted from Robin’s broken nose and he fell backwards, knocking the camera with him, cursing and screaming for the guards. 

They could hear shouts and curses and splashing and Stiles swearing, could see Robin’s feet when he eventually climbed back up to his feet, heard the sounds of fists raining down against bare skin, heard Stiles gasp and cry in pain and eventually, what could have been minutes or hours later, Robin picked up the camera, showing his bloodied face and a wide grin.

“That little shit broke my nose.” Robin laughed, he sounded deranged, “I’m going to have so much fun with him, I’m going to be the one to fuck him, Marcus has promised, I’m going to be the one to force him on the ground and take that nice virgin ass of his. It’ll be so good, he thinks he’s good, he thinks he’s smarter than me, we’ll see how smart he is when I’m the one slamming my cock in his ass. God, I’m so fucking hard, I love when he fucking fights back like that, I can’t fucking wait to get my hands on him, I’m going to make him beg, I’m, god, I’m so hard.” Robin groaned, the camera angle shifted as he reached down to undo his jeans and stroke his cock quickly, “God, you should have felt how good his cock felt in my hands, I’m going to do that again, but this time I’m going to get him hard, I’m going to stroke his cock until he begs me to let him cum and then I’m going to bend him over and fuck his ass and make him cum and I’m going to, god, god, I’m going to…” Robin let out a loud groan, coating his hand in cum as he groaned and grunted through his orgasm. The camera shut off and the video ended. 

There was silence in the room, the pack switching between staring at the video and then staring at Stiles who was looking at the screen in horror. 

“I, um, I didn’t know he’d done that, I mean, I knew he’d filmed some stuff, but, I didn’t know he’d, um, he’d enjoyed it as much as he obviously had.” Stiles muttered, blushing furiously and Scott pulled him into a side hug, pressing Stiles into his side and glaring around the rest of the room as if daring them to say something. “On the plus side, it doesn’t look like we have to worry about him going after Allison, although, maybe that’s his plan, like, lull us into a false sense of security and then, go after her instead. You shouldn’t go anywhere alone.” Stiles said turning to Allison who nodded numbly. 

“Stiles, I’m sor…” She began.

“No, no, don’t be sorry, this isn’t your fault.” Stiles said, getting to his feet and pacing in agitation, “I mean, really, if it’s anyone’s fault then it’s mine, I was the one that let Gerard kidnap me in the first place, if I hadn’t, then, well, then none of this would have happened, Robin and John wouldn’t have held me, wouldn’t have taken me to Mexico, I wouldn’t have had to fight, and really, what about what you guys had to go through? I mean, I always thought that you just had an empty coffin or whatever, that you like told dad not to open or something, because, how else would you have had a funeral? I figured that Scott and Derek told you that I was dead, that they’d seen the body or something, some reason to believe them when they said I was dead. But you guys didn’t know that I was alive. Which meant you believed I was dead. You really believed I was dead, and, god, Scotty I’m so sorry about what I said about failing to keep dad safe, I know you would have tried dude, and, you did, look at him, alive and kicking and eating as much bacon as he likes. So, now I’m thinking, I’m thinking you guys wouldn’t have had a funeral in there was any hope I was still alive, so, you had to have proof, you found a body?” Stiles rambled and everyone stared at him in wonder. “Derek!?” Stiles said, snapping his fingers in front of Derek’s face.

“What? Sorry, what?” Derek said as he focused on what Stiles was saying, he may have zoned out for a moment, but that was only because it was like the old Stiles had just charged into the room and taken over and it was good, god, it was so good. 

“Did you find a body? Someone that looked like me?” Stiles asked and Derek flinched, his mind conjuring up the image of the broken body they had found in the preserve.

“Yeah, we, um, we couldn’t, it couldn’t be identified, it was, there was no way left to identify it, but, the place stank of your blood and your clothes were next to it, like, they’d been pulled off you right there.” Derek confessed and Stiles nodded hurriedly, his mind was racing, he had to find Robin, had to put an end to him. 

“Okay, we need to like, dig up the grave or something.” Stiles said, moving towards the door and the pack stared at him in confusion.

“What? Why the hell are we digging up a grave!?” Jackson squawked.

“Because whoever is in that grave isn’t me.” Stiles replied, “And, if we can figure out who it is, maybe it can lead us to Robin somehow. Not to mention, whoever it is, their family deserves to know that he’s dead.” 

“Are we not going to talk about that video?” Peter asked quietly and Stiles glared at him, “Stiles, that man, he, he fucking abused you. He kidnapped you and he abused you and you, you don’t seem bothered about it?” 

“Why would I be?” Stiles asked, “What? You think he was the only one? You think that if he hadn’t turned up at the bath that the guards wouldn’t have done the same thing? That they didn’t do it the next time?” Stiles queried and the whole pack shuddered, Stiles sighed heavily, taking a calming breath before continuing, “Look, I’ve told you, that place, those places, they weren’t, they were hell. Just because I was lucky enough to be a virgin, that it was worth something, worth enough to not get raped, doesn’t mean I was lucky. Nothing about those places were good, and they destroyed anything good that was there. I can’t expect any of you to ever understand and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to talk about everything that happened. But, I’m out, I’m home. The rings are destroyed. The guys in charge are dead. And, right now, I want him dead too. I don’t want him coming after Allison, or you guys. I want him dead, I want this threat gone. I’ll kill him myself. Which means, I need to go dig up a grave.” Stiles said, turning back towards the door.

“He needs to die for what he’s done to you too.” Danny said and Stiles shrugged. “Don’t dismiss it like that Stiles. It doesn’t matter if other people hurt you, or if he hurt you more than them, or whatever. He hurt you Stiles. He kidnapped you. He tortured you. He abused you. He has to pay for that. We want to make him pay for that.” 

“Fine.” Stiles said rolling his eyes, “Can we get going now?” He asked impatiently, indicating the door behind him. 

“Stiles, it’s the middle of the night, this can wait until the morning, can’t it? I mean, it’s not like the body is going to go anywhere, is it?” Cora said and Stiles frowned. She was right and they did have school in the morning, but, he wanted to deal with this now, he wanted to make a start on it, he wanted to find Robin now and make him pay. His magic throbbed impatiently and Stiles paused, what if, what if he used his magic to find Robin? It wouldn’t be impossible, would it? And, really, it would be better if the pack weren’t around for that. A plan began to form in his mind, it would just be a case of pulling it off.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” Stiles sighed, rubbing a hand across his face in exhaustion. “Maybe, maybe we should all just try and get some sleep, and, um, dad? You could put in an exhumation request, couldn’t you? Just, with me being alive and all, it’s important that we find out who that guy was.” 

“Yeah, sure thing kiddo. We can do that.” Noah nodded confidently, “Are you sure you want to wait though? You seemed pretty hyped up about going now?” 

“No. No, Cora is right.” Stiles replied, moving away from the door and forcing himself to relax slightly, “I think, I think I’m just tired. You know, finding out Scott and Derek, that they didn’t, that it wasn’t what I thought, I want to make him pay for that, but, it’s important we all rest.” 

“Alright, you heard the guy.” Derek said, motioning to the bedrooms upstairs as the pack all shuffled in that direction. 

“I, um, yeah, okay.” Stiles said, following after them, he stopped at his own bedroom door, allowing the rest of them to continue on to their own rooms. “Scott.” He said, causing Scott to turn around and look at him in confusion, “I wanted you to know, you’re still my brother, and I truly am sorry about being a dick to you.” Scott’s face crumpled and he pulled Stiles into a tight hug.

“You’ll always be my brother Stiles, no matter what, and it’s okay, I think, in those circumstances, I’d probably have been a bigger dick to you.” Scott smiled fondly.

“If you guys are done comparing sizes, I’d like to go to sleep.” Isaac called from ahead of Scott and they both grinned sheepishly before Scott went to his own bedroom and Stiles went into his own room, resting his head against the door and letting out a sigh. He hadn’t wanted to lie to them, but, taking down Robin should have been his priority from the start. As soon as the rings were taken care of he should have gone after Robin, and, instead, he’d allowed himself to be lulled into a false sense of security, allowed himself to believe that he could have all of this, and he couldn’t, he didn’t deserve it. 

He moved around the room quickly, grabbing his duffle bag from under the bed and shoving a handful of clothes into it, grabbing the knives and swords that he had stashed around the room, along with the jar of powder that Deaton had given him to help control his magic and throwing them into the bag after the clothes. He put the pack in danger by being here, not just because of Robin, although he’d read the veiled threat along with everyone else, ‘if I don’t see your precious pack first’, no, he needed to find Robin first, which meant he needed to get out of here, now.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stiles is blackmailed into performing sexual acts and is nearly raped in this chapter. You've been warned!

He waited patiently, knowing that the wolves wouldn’t all necessarily go to sleep straight away, despite the late hour and the emotional exhaustion they must all have been feeling. He decided to use that time to write them a letter, explaining what he was doing and why, he didn’t want them to worry after all. He pulled a piece of paper from one of his books and paused, unsure where to even start.

‘I’m sorry,’ He scrawled, ‘I’m not leaving because of anything you guys did, you’ve done nothing wrong, none of you. And, I’m going to come back. I promise. But, I need to take care of Robin first, and, I need you guys to be safe. I’ll be back. I promise. I’m sorry.’ Stiles knew it wasn’t the best explanation, but, it was all he could say without feeling almost overwhelmed by how much this hurt. He’d finally got home, finally realised that Derek and Scott weren’t the bad guys, but, he still wasn’t allowed to have this, he knew that, he didn’t deserve it.

Around four in the morning he cracked open his door and headed downstairs, he had a plan, he’d had plenty of time to think it through. He grabbed Danny’s laptop that was still sat on the side and opened up Robin’s email from earlier, quickly clicking reply. 

‘You only ever made me beg once asshole.’ Stiles wrote, this would make sure that Robin knew it was definitely writing to him, ‘You want to try making me beg again then you’ll come meet me. The same place as before. You know I know where that is. I’ll be there at sunrise tomorrow. There’s no need to involve the pack in this. You want me all for yourself after all.’ He said simply before hitting send and then deleting the email so nobody else could see it and moving towards the door. He gave one last glance around and then opened the door, shutting it silently behind him, before moving towards the preserve. 

Derek woke up to sunlight streaming in through the window, he hadn’t slept well, his mind still trying to process the fact that somehow Robin and John had been able to fake their voices, that Stiles had believed they’d betrayed him and yet he’d still come home with them, Derek could never deserve someone as good hearted as Stiles. He headed downstairs to start breakfast, not surprised when he saw Stiles’ door ajar, he would no doubt have gone out for a run already. 

The pack trickled into the kitchen slowly and there was still no sign of Stiles, Derek wasn’t overly worried, even though he wasn’t sure he’d be able to relax until he saw Stiles come back through the door. The fact that they needed to leave for school in twenty minutes and there was still no sign of him should not make Derek want to run out into the preserve and hunt Stiles down. 

“Guys!” Danny called from the living room sounding panicked, “We have a problem.” He indicated his computer.

“What!?” Derek asked wondering what the hell Danny had found now. 

“Robin’s sent a reply.” Danny said.

“A reply? We didn’t go back to him, did we?” Peter asked in confusion.

“No. We didn’t. But Stiles did.” 

“What!?” Derek snarled, snatching the laptop from Danny’s hands and reading the email quickly, “You stupid…” Derek started, already shoving the laptop back towards Danny and hurrying to follow Stiles’ scent out of the bank door. 

“What’s going on?” Lydia asked quickly.

“Stiles has gone after him.” Danny explained, “He’s said something about being the same place as before?”

“You mean where they held him before they went to Mexico?” Ethan asked. 

“I guess?” Danny said.

“Danny, watch the videos again, see if you can figure out if there’s anything to give away where that might have been. I’m going to go after Derek, see if we can follow Stiles’ scent.” Noah ordered.

“I’m coming too!” Scott shouted, chasing after Noah. In the end, the wolves had all run off into the preserve and the non-super speed people were left in the house, staring at the screen in front of them. 

“He left a note.” Kira said when she came down the stairs with Melissa. “Some of his clothes are gone, so are his weapons, but, he left a note. He says he’s coming back.” 

“Not if Robin kills him first.” Lydia muttered and they all stared at her.

“Do you, does it feel, you think he’s going to die?” Allison asked and Lydia hesitated, it felt like someone was going to die, she knew that much, she just wasn’t sure who. 

Derek had shifted the instant he was out of the back door, knowing he needed as much speed as he could get, he had no idea how much of a lead Stiles had on them, but, he knew he needed to find him before then. He could hear the sounds of the other wolves racing after him but he couldn’t think about them. He needed Stiles. He needed him. He couldn’t lose him now. It wasn’t fair. He pushed himself to go faster, he had to get to Stiles. 

The trail ended at the road, Stiles had cut through the preserve, walked the road for a few hundred meters and then obviously climbed into a vehicle of some kind. Derek had stood at the spot where the scent vanished for minutes before he let out a long, loud, pained howl, hoping that Stiles was still close enough that he could hear it and would come home. The rest of the pack echoing his voice, begging Stiles to return to them. 

There was no reply. 

They gathered back at the house within the hour, Danny said that he couldn’t find anything in the videos that gave away any kind of location and Derek was seconds away from tearing something apart in his frustration.

“I might be able, I might know somebody.” Peter said uncertainly, moving to grab his phone and looking at Derek who was glaring at him and waiting for more of an explanation, “I met a witch a few months ago, she, there might be a way to locate Stiles.”

“What are you waiting for!? Call her!” Allison demanded and Peter looked at Derek who nodded before he made the call. They talked for a few minutes, Peter explaining the situation before Rachel announced she’d be there within the next hour, he ended the call and looked around at the waiting pack. 

“Why have you never mentioned her before?” Cora asked and Peter shrugged.

“She may not be the most stable individual, but, she knows things, she should be able to find Stiles. I’m almost certain of it.” Peter said firmly.

“Until she arrives, are there any other suggestions?” Melissa asked, “We could track his phone?” 

“It’s in his bedroom.” Noah said unhelpfully. 

“I’ll keep looking through the videos.” Danny said, returning to his task.

“I’ll put out an APB, see if anyone saw him, saw what vehicle he got in, that kind of stuff.” Noah added.

“I’ll call around the other supernaturals in the area, ask them to keep an eye out for him.” Lydia said quickly. 

“We could try Braeden?” Isaac suggested and Derek growled at him. “I just, she’s a bounty hunter, she’s good at finding people?”

“Last time she ‘found’ Stiles she handed him back over to Marcus.” Jackson snarled, “There’s no way we’re asking her. Chances are she’d hand him over to Robin and there’s no way that’s happening.” 

“Jackson’s right.” Erica said, “We should be doing something, not just standing here waiting for a witch to show up. Stiles could be in trouble!”

“The email said tomorrow.” Aiden interrupted, “They won’t meet before tomorrow. Stiles is capable of handling himself, which means we’ve got the rest of the day and all night to find him before he meets up with Robin. Right now, our best bet is waiting for the witch.” 

They were interrupted by a knock on the door and Peter hurried to it, opening the door and smiling politely at the woman on the other side. She was tall and broad, long dark hair that hung halfway down her back and a smile that stretched wide and looked more than a little unsettling. 

“So which one of you is the Alpha?” She asked as she strolled through the door as if she belonged there, wrinkling her nose slightly and then stepping towards Derek when he held out his hand in greeting. 

“I’m Derek.”

“Rachel.” She said in reply, her eyes darting around the room, not looking at the pack members but rather the windows, the walls, corners of the room, it was, it was odd. “Peter says you’re missing a pack member?”

“Stiles. Yes. He’s left to go fight Robin by himself. Can you track him?” Noah asked eagerly.

“I don’t need the specifics.” She dismissed him, turning on her heel and sniffing the air distractedly. “There’s no use in casting a tracking spell if he’s still moving, it’ll just lead you to the wrong location.” She moved towards the back door, “What is that smell!?” She asked in annoyance and the wolves all looked at her in confusion. 

“Smell?” Kira asked in a small voice as Rachel moved to the stairs, none of the wolves stopped her as she headed up the stairs and towards Stiles’ room, instead following after her, glancing back at Peter with raised eyebrows, as if questioning where the hell he found her. 

“Huh.” Rachel huffed as she stood in the doorway, “This, um, Steffan?”

“Stiles.” Lydia snapped impatiently.

“Yeah, right, him, is he new to magic?” She asked and Derek nodded, Rachel laughed brightly, shaking her head in amusement outside the room, “Well, that’s a very nasty trick you’re playing on him. Surprised he hasn’t already blown himself up.” She laughed and the wolves were even more confused. 

“What are you talking about?” Scott queried, “We’re not playing any trick. Stiles only started using his magic a couple of months ago and he’s been getting training from Deaton to help manage it and right now he’s lost and we need you to help us find him!” 

“He’s not lost. He knows where he is. It’s you that don’t know how to find him.” Rachel replied in a childish voice, Derek was surprised that she didn’t stick her tongue out at them, he was losing his patience quickly, he needed to find Stiles. Now. 

“Look, can you help us find him or not!?” Derek growled.

“Of course I can. It’s simple really, I just need to know which one of you wants to risk dying trying to find him?” She asked and the pack froze.

“A simple spell that might risk dying?” Peter asked for clarification.

“All spells risk you dying at one point or another.” Rachel explained, “And, I’m not sure any of you care enough considering you’re already tampering with his magic.” 

“What are you talking about!? None of us know how to tamper with his magic!?” Isaac shouted.

“Well, somebody has been doing, and, if it’s not you, it’s someone who has access to him.” Rachel said simply, gesturing to the empty room behind her, obviously she could see something they couldn’t. 

“We’re getting off topic.” Noah snapped. 

“We are.” Derek agreed, “Look, whatever this spell needs, whatever you need to help me find him, I’ll do it. Whatever it is.” Derek pleaded, he needed to find Stiles. Rachel studied him appraisingly, looking back into the bedroom a few times, across at Peter, then the rest of the pack, before, finally she nodded. 

“You shouldn’t do this Derek, if anything happens to you, you are our Alpha.” Cora whispered. “I’ll do it instead.”

“No. I will.” Ethan insisted. 

“Your Alpha is stronger, there’s more chance he’ll survive.” Rachel commented, moving back towards the stairs.

“And what are his chances?” Peter asked uncomfortably.

“Well that depends on how far away little Steven is.” Rachel shrugged.

“Stiles!” Derek growled.

“Whatever.” Rachel waved a hand dismissively, moving to the front door and picking up a bag she’d dropped when she’d entered. “The spell I cast will make you able to find him, but, your body won’t stop, won’t rest until you find him. If he’s only a day or two ahead of you, as an Alpha, you may survive, but, if he’s a week away, even werewolf bodies collapse eventually.” She said, sounding more serious than Derek had heard her so far, “Now, are you sure you want to do this? I won’t be able to remove the spell and it won’t wear off until you’ve found him.” 

“I’m sure. Do it.” Derek snapped impatiently, Stiles only had a few hours lead on him, he could do this, no issues. 

“Alright,” Rachel said, looking around at the rest of the pack, “Are you going to put a tracker on him or something? Or are you planning on letting him go alone?” 

“We’re going with him.” Noah snorted, as if it should have been blatantly obvious.

“You’ll struggle to keep up. The spell will make him faster, push him to the limits to find him, drive him feral in a way. If you don’t want to risk losing him then you need to make sure you can track him.” Rachel warned them. 

“My dad left some trackers upstairs.” Allison said, dashing up the stairs and returning a moment later with a small dart in one hand and a small computer screen in the other, Derek took it from her and stabbed it into his arm. 

“Is it working?” He asked impatiently. 

“Yeah, yes.” Allison said after a moment. “Clear signal.” She nodded as if to confirm her point. 

“Alright then, let’s do this.” Derek said and Rachel nodded.

“Okay.” She replied, she pulled out a handful of ingredients from her bag, settling crossed legged on the floor and lighting a few candles around her. She gestured for Derek to take a seat opposite her, she put her finger into some kind of ash then reached across to Derek and brushed it onto Derek’s forehead and cheeks. She muttered an incantation under her breath and Derek felt a sudden rush of power, shifting to his wolf form within seconds and howling with pain. 

He’d understood what Rachel had said, that he would be nearly feral with the need to get to Stiles, but, he’d obviously underestimated the severity of the situation. He still would have done it of course, but, he couldn’t think straight, couldn’t think of his pack or anything other than Stiles, he ran for the back door, breaking through it and running into the preserve. He felt the presence of other people behind him but he didn’t know who it was and he didn’t really care, all that mattered was getting to Stiles. 

The other footfalls faded away after some time, Derek wasn’t sure how much time had passed, some small part of his brain told him he’d been running for a long time, that he should rest and recover, but that small part was ignored, the larger part of his brain told him that Stiles was in danger and they needed to get to him. It was like a string that connected them, it told Derek that Stiles was right there at the other end of the string, he just had to chase him down. 

The wolves had run out of the house after Derek, slipping and sliding across the remains of the door as they barrelled out after him in determination. The humans of the pack had dashed towards the cars out front, Rachel shrugging and following after them, she was admittedly curious about how this whole thing was going to play out and she always got some amusement from wolf packs. 

They’d been driving along the roads in a tense silence for seven hours before the humans pulled to a stop and the wolves, apart from the Alpha of course, appeared out of the woods looking exhausted. She had told them that they wouldn’t be able to keep up, but she decided now wasn’t the time to say that, she’d wait until they were all recovered enough that they’d register what she was saying.

“How will we know when he’s close?” Lydia asked Rachel eventually and Rachel shrugged.

“When you see your little friend, I guess.” Rachel dismissed and Lydia huffed impatiently. Erica, Peter and Aiden, who had all crammed in the car with them both rolled their eyes and the car returned to silence. Allison called them a few minutes later from one of the other cars and they set up a conference call so that everyone could hear what was going on, Allison telling them that the tracker was still working and Derek was still moving in the direction of the next town. 

“Um, Rachel?” Kira’s voice drifted through the speaker.

“Yes?” Rachel replied, her gaze not moving from the world outside her window. 

“You said earlier about one of us tampering with Stiles’ magic. What did you mean by that? I mean, what makes you think that?” 

“You mean other than the powdered billing’s root that practically coated his room?” Rachel scoffed and they all looked at her blankly. 

“Which means what?” Lydia asked tightly, her eyes still focused on the road ahead of her. Rachel let out a huff of laughter, these wolf packs were ridiculous, did they really know so little? 

“It’s used for several things, in smaller doses it’s to mess with control, in larger more concentrated doses it’s used to drain the magic from casters.” 

“It does what!?” Noah screeched over the phone and Rachel rolled her eyes. 

“Exactly what I said, there’s billing’s root all over his room, so, either, he’s done it himself without any idea what he’s doing, which, I’d hope he wouldn’t be stupid enough to do. Or, one of you gave it to him, in an attempt to mess with him.” 

“We wouldn’t do that!” Melissa scolded. 

“Well, someone did.” Rachel replied casually. 

“What does this powdered billing’s root look like?” Peter asked.

“Like a powder.” Rachel responded like she was speaking to an idiot.

“A black powder?” Isaac asked. 

“Yes.” Rachel confirmed.

“Deaton.” Isaac hissed angrily and everyone stared at him in confusion. “Deaton gave Stiles that powder, the one that he’s supposed to surround himself with and then meditate and it’s supposed to help with his control, right?” 

“That makes no sense, Deaton said he’d help Stiles learn to control his magic, why would he want to disrupt Stiles’ magic? He knows how dangerous it is, he’s seen how new Stiles is to all of this, how badly it’s gone for him when he’s lost control before. Why the hell would Deaton risk that?” Danny asked.

“This Deaton, is he a caster too?” Rachel asked. 

“Yeah, well, he’s a, a druid?” Erica looked to Lydia for clarification, Lydia nodded looking furious. 

“Well, then it’s obvious, isn’t it? You’ve moved a new caster into his territory, of course he’s going to do everything he can to get rid of him. I’m surprised he didn’t just kill him outright, I suppose the billing’s root is a very devious way to go about it, make Stiles lose whatever control he has over whatever magic he has, he wouldn’t know it was Deaton, none of you would suspect him and Stiles would probably blow himself up when he tried to do something beyond his capabilities, and, I suppose, if he’s new to magic then he won’t have too much power just yet then maybe he might not kill himself, but, he’d probably do himself serious damage, enough that he’s never going to be a threat to Deaton. And, if he somehow survived, I’m sure Deaton would approach you and suggest you got Stiles to leave the area in case there was a repeat performance.” Rachel surmised. 

“Stiles is powerful, he’s really powerful.” Cora insisted. 

“Alright, maybe he is, but, if he’s so powerful, then, surely that makes him more of a threat to Deaton’s position?” Rachel argued and the pack seemed to freeze before they nodded in unison.

“Does the effects of billing’s root wear off? Will Stiles be able to get control of his magic once we tell him about Deaton and he stops using the powder?” Scott asked sounding worried. 

“Yes it should do, depending on the prolonged exposure to it and depending on Stiles’ levels of power, if he hasn’t got much power then it’ll be harder to shake the effects, although, considering he hasn’t already blown himself up, I’d say he must have some level of magic about him.” Rachel replied.

“We’re telling you, Stiles is really powerful.” Ethan said and Rachel shrugged, these wolves don’t know power like she does, she’d see when she met this Stiles, see for herself how powerful he is, if the Alpha made it to him. She wondered vaguely how much longer he would last.

Derek knew his paws were bleeding, could smell the blood he left behind with every step, they’d stopped healing, he knew that meant that he should stop, rest, recover, but the spell pulled him onwards and, as the day turned to night around him, he knew he had to hurry, Stiles needed him and he wasn’t sure how much more time he had. 

They drove through the night, the closer it got to sunrise the more tense everyone became, Derek had run across the state, entering Arizona around five in the morning, they had less than an hour before the sun was up and it was making them all nervous. 

Derek heard a familiar heart beat a few hundred meters ahead and it spurned him onwards, Stiles was there, he was right there. He used whatever energy reserves he had left and pushed himself through the thinning trees until, finally, he saw Stiles. 

Stiles was waiting in the clearing next to the house, he wasn’t stepping foot in there again, not now, not ever, except maybe to burn it down. He’d arrived about an hour ago, he was tired but not completely exhausted, he’d managed to get a few hours sleep on the bus on the way across, well, not proper sleep, but, at least a light dose, he felt better than he would have done without it anyway. He was waiting for Robin, he knew how dangerous this was, meeting up with him, knowing Robin would no doubt have other people with him, but, Stiles wasn’t going to risk the pack and he wasn’t going to look over his shoulder until Robin decided to attack. This was the only option. 

He was ready, he held two smaller knives in his hands, good for throwing, and his swords were strapped to his back, waiting to be used, he was prepared, and, he wanted to believe that he was going to come out of this alive, he wanted to see his dad again, wanted to see his pack, he couldn’t do that if he died, he had to make it out of here alive and make sure they were safe, that Robin wouldn’t come after them, that he couldn’t come after them. 

His ears perked up at the sound of someone coming crashing through the trees behind him, they weren’t being cautious at all, Stiles gripped the knives tighter and turned to face the threat, surprised to see a wolf moving towards him, it took him a split second to recognise the wolf as Derek, he was covered in dirt and he was moving sluggishly, there was blood spilling from his paws and he looked as if he was about to collapse on the spot. 

“Derek!?” Stiles squeaked in shock, rushing over to the obviously injured wolf and wondering what the hell had happened, had Robin gotten to him somehow? Stiles caught Derek just as he collapsed, stopping the wolf from hitting the ground and instead letting Derek rest his head on Stiles’ knees. “Jesus, Derek, what happened? Are you okay?” Derek didn’t reply, in fact, his eyes closed and a moment later he let out a sleepy yawn and went to sleep. Stiles ran his hands over Derek’s sleeping form, checking for any other injuries and relaxing slightly when he couldn’t find any, it didn’t explain the exhaustion that the wolf was suffering from, but, if he’d run all the way here then Stiles could maybe understand that. He just hoped the rest of the pack weren’t in the same state, and, how on earth did Derek find him? 

There was the sound of a at least one car approaching and Stiles got to his feet, lowering Derek’s head gently to the ground, unsure if he should be expecting Robin or the pack. At least he had one moment of good luck, it was Robin and, miraculously, he’d only brought seven other men with him. Stiles squared his shoulders and glared at Robin as he climbed out of the car. 

“Kid, lovely to see you.” Robin grinned and Stiles growled, tightening his grip on the knives in his hands, Derek roused slightly, enough to open his eyes and let out a little growl in Robin’s direction but he didn’t seem to even have the energy left to raise his head. Robin saw Derek and there was a wide smirk on his lips, Stiles stepped in front of him protectively and bared his teeth. 

“I would say the shame, except it’s really not.” Stiles retorted. 

“Aww, don’t be like that. You know you’re my favourite.” Robin grinned, leaning against the hood of the vehicle behind him, the men that were with him all smirked and Stiles looked at him with hatred. “So, you want to get down to business?” Robin asked, “I mean, I assume you’re here to make some kind of deal, I don’t kill your precious pack and you come work for me?” 

“I’m here to kill you. There won’t be any kind of deal.” Stiles growled, Robin laughed brightly, throwing his head back and revelling in Stiles’ threat. 

“Oh god, I’ve missed you, I’ve missed that sarcasm of yours.” Robin smiled. “You look good Kid, you look stronger than I remember, fitter, more confident, it suits you. I like it.”

“I don’t give a fuck what you like.” Stiles growled, preparing himself to fight, shifting his stance so that he was protecting Derek from view.

“Wait, before you do anything stupid, just wait.” Robin grinned and Stiles hesitated, Robin looked smug and it made him pause, was there something else going on here that he didn’t know about? Just as Stiles thought that perhaps Robin was bluffing Derek let out a whine of pain and a radio crackled to life in the car that Robin had exited. Robin moved to the radio, that stupid, smug smile on his lips and raised it to his mouth, “Got them?” 

“Yes sir. Just as you expected.” A voice came back, Stiles could hear the sounds of shouts and scuffles in the background and Derek let out another pathetic whine. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the pack had followed Derek and Robin had had men waiting for them, that, right now, these men had his pack and Stiles felt an almost overwhelming rage wash over him, he was shaking with the force of it but he knew he couldn’t do anything, he couldn’t attack Robin when he had no idea what state his pack were in. The helplessness quickly overwhelmed the rage and he stood tense, waiting for what would happen next, still putting Derek behind him because at least Derek he could protect, for now. 

“Bring them here, we’re going to have a little chat.” Robin smirked before putting the radio back down and leaning casually against the car, “Don’t worry, we have a few minutes before they get here, so, let’s talk Kid. Let’s talk about how this is going to go, because it’s only going to go one of two ways. One, you fight us, hell, you’ll probably kill us all, I don’t doubt your abilities for one second, but, the chances of you killing all of us before a few of us have put bullets in the heads of your precious pack? I don’t rate your chances on that.” 

“Two?” Stiles queried, feeling sick to his stomach.

“Two,” Robin grinned widely, “Two is that you do exactly what I say, when I say it, and, maybe, maybe I let a few of them live. I say jump, you say how high. I say I want you to kill and you do it without hesitation. I say to climb into my bed and be mine and you do it, no questions asked. I’ll keep your pack alive, prisoners of course, but, alive. And, providing you behave yourself, no harm will come to them, hell, they’ll live out the rest of their lives in safety, a lot safer than Beacon Hills is anyway.” Robin grinned as several cars pulled up, fifteen men climbed out, dragging the various pack members with them, the pack had their hands tied behind their backs and gags in their mouths, blood showing on some of their faces and clothes, Stiles assessed them quickly, there didn’t seem to be anything life threatening in their injuries. They were shoved unceremoniously to the ground and Stiles looked at each of them in turn, there was another woman there, one he didn’t recognise, but Stiles could almost sense the magic coming off her, the frustration when she failed to be able to do anything with her mouth gagged and her hands tied uselessly behind her. 

“Stiles.” Derek’s voice sounded wrecked and when Stiles turned to look at him he saw Derek had shifted back to human, he was lay on the ground, too weak to be able to stand, and he looked to be in physical pain, “Don’t. Don’t do it.” Derek panted and Stiles stared at him in shock, unable to believe that Derek would risk his whole pack being slaughtered. 

“Come on Stiles, it’s a simple decision really, your pack lives, or they die. Or do you honestly believe you can kill us all before Howard over there puts a bullet in daddy’s brain?” Robin taunted, Stiles didn’t need to look to see the gun pressed against the back of his dad’s head, his dad’s eyes had gone wide, shaking his head in despair, pleading with Stiles for something but Stiles didn’t know what. 

“What do you want me to do?” Stiles asked in defeat and Robin’s grin stretched even wider if that was even possible.

“Drop your knives, all of them.” Robin commanded and Stiles followed the order, removing the knives and swords and dropping them to the ground. “Steve, collar.” Robin ordered and one of the men pulled a collar from the car and moved towards Stiles, Stiles stared at the collar in disgust, he thought he’d never see one of them again, never have to live with one of them around his neck again. He stood still as Steve tightened the collar around his neck, it was tight, too tight, Stiles could barely breathe properly but he knew that Robin wanted it that way, wanted him kept weak. He glared at the men surrounding his pack as Steve connected a leash to the collar, smirking at Stiles as he walked back to Robin and handed the leash to him.

“And I thought he was supposed to be dangerous.” Steve smirked and Robin let out a harsh laugh, pulling on the leash so Stiles stumbled slightly. 

“Oh, he is. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of The Kid? Don’t tell me you haven’t seen him fight?” Robin grinned and Steve shrugged.

“I’ve heard of him, who hasn’t? I just don’t believe the stories.” Steve replied casually and Robin’s grin turned evil, levelling Stiles with his gaze. 

“Do you remember what I said? I tell you to kill and you do so without hesitation?” Robin asked and Stiles nodded, “Good. Kill him.” Robin said, pointing a finger at Steve who looked half surprised and half disgusted with Robin. Stiles didn’t give him time to move, didn’t give him time to react. He grabbed one of the knives from the floor and threw it so it hit Steve straight in the middle of his forehead. The man dropped to the ground with a thud and Stiles had no remorse, one less man holding his pack hostage, it didn’t matter to him in the slightest. 

Robin laughed in amusement, seemingly delighted by the power he now held over Stiles, the other men were looking at Robin in concern but nobody dared to say anything.

“Now, does anyone else have anything to say about The Kid’s fighting abilities?” Robin queried and the men all shook their heads quickly, “Good.” Robin said, pulling the leash so Stiles stumbled forward a few steps and Robin was within touching distance. “You know, if I’d known how easy it was to get you to behave before then I never would have taken you to those rings, I would have just snatched your dad up off the street and held his life over you. I would have made you beg for me to fuck you. I would have sent that video to your pack, I would have made sure that they knew what a desperate little whore you are.” Robin said, reaching out to stroke Stiles’ cheek, smirking when Stiles did his best not to flinch at the contact and yet he still failed miserably. 

“Don’t fucking touch him.” Derek growled from behind Stiles, it still sounded weak though, still pained and Stiles knew he wasn’t going to be any help in fighting Robin or his men right now. If he was going to do this, he was going to have to do it alone. 

“Aww, how precious, the Alpha acts like he gives a damn about you Kid, we both know that’s not true though, don’t we? They didn’t look for you. They left you with us.”

“You told them I was dead.” Stiles snarled with as much anger as he could. 

“Oh yeah we did, but, before that, in the basement, with Gerard, they didn’t come then either, did they? Oh, you were so sure they were going to come for you, what was it you said? That Scott would be able to smell you even if you were in a sewer, that you had such a pungent odour. Except, he didn’t come, did he? None of them did. And you know why? Because they don’t care. You were expendable then, you’re expendable now, they will only keep you around when it works for them, and, when they get fed up of you, when they realise how broken you are, how sick and twisted you are, when they get fed up of you flinching away from them, when they get bored of your nightmares, when they realise you aren’t worth the hassle, they’ll kick you to the curb. Because you are a liability Kid. You always have been. Nothing’s changed.” Robin taunted and Stiles tried not to flinch as every one of those words buried themselves deep in his heart, he knew it was true, every word Robin uttered was true, but, he couldn’t let the man see he had won, that wasn’t how this worked. 

“He’s lying.” Derek snarled, “He’s lying Stiles.” 

“You know, if your stupid Alpha doesn’t shut his trap I’m going to make you kill him next. Perhaps that will keep the rest of this pack in line. In fact, yes, that sounds like a good idea. Prove your loyalty to me, to your pack, kill him.” Robin smirked and Stiles stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “Do I need to repeat myself? Or would you prefer if daddy dearest took a bullet to the brain?” Robin taunted and Stiles looked around at the muffled shouts from the pack, all of them pleading with wide eyes for him not to do this. 

“No, no, we don’t have to do this. There’s another way. There’s no need to kill him.” Stiles argued.

“So you want me to kill your dad instead?” Robin teased and Stiles heard a gun cock. 

“No! No! Please, just, wait, please!” Stiles pleaded.

“Kill Derek or your father dies. The choice is yours.” Robin grinned and Stiles had never wanted to kill anyone more than he did in that moment.

He turned to Derek who was still lying on the ground, he looked exhausted, but, resigned, almost as if he knew what Stiles was going to choose to do. 

“It’s okay.” Derek muttered and Stiles felt his stomach lurch, no, this wasn’t okay, this was so far from okay. A plan began to form in his head, he didn’t know if it would work, he’d never done it before, but, it was the only option he had that wasn’t going to definitely result in the death of his pack. He moved towards Derek, straddling his chest, ignoring the muffled screams from his pack behind him, leaning down and pressing his lips to Derek’s ear. 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Stiles. It’s okay.” Derek muttered and Stiles felt the tears well up in his eyes, if this didn’t work, he was going to kill Derek, he was going to kill him and the pack would never forgive him and he’d never be able to forgive himself. He was shaking with fear, shaking with pure terror, he didn’t want to do this.

“Tick tock Kid.” Robin taunted and Stiles tensed. 

“Stay still. Trust me.” Stiles whispered so quietly he was sure that Robin wouldn’t hear it. 

“Always.” Derek replied, his lips barely moving and Stiles felt his heart breaking. He straightened back up, refusing to look at the pack behind him. 

“I’m sorry.” Stiles repeated and Derek nodded at him, too exhausted to even put up a fight, Stiles wrapped his hands around Derek’s throat, tightening his grip even as his fingers moved to put pressure on the top of his spine. Derek gasped for breath, his body arching up and trying to throw Stiles off, his feet scrabbling uselessly against the dirt and Stiles felt tears running down his cheeks as he pressed harder, cutting off the supply of oxygen, until, finally, minutes later, Derek stopped moving. Stiles picked up the knife from the ground and, with trembling fingers, slid it into the back of Derek’s neck, watching as his head lolled lifelessly to the side.

Stiles held on for a little longer, until he was sure that Derek was dead, that his heart had stopped beating, until, he let go, swiped at the tears on his face and stood to face Robin who was looking on in amusement. 

“Interesting way to do it. I thought you’d go for a knife to the brain first?” Stiles glared at him.

“He was, it was, he deserved better than that.” Stiles replied, the pack were all staring at him like he was a monster and Stiles knew, he knew that they knew now, what he was, what he would always be. He was a monster. 

“You made the right choice.” Robin grinned, “Now,” He turned to address the men around them, “Take the pack into the basement, put them in the cages down there. Mark, you and Stuart take that one out into the woods and bury the body. Kid, you stay with me.” Robin ordered and everyone rushed to follow his orders. The pack were staring at Derek’s body with tears rolling down their cheeks, unable to even look Stiles in the eyes, he didn’t blame them, they were led into the small house, Stiles could see it in his mind’s eye, the side wall that opened up and revealed a hidden staircase that descended into a basement, the rows of cages down there, the mountain ash that filled each bar. 

This was a hunter’s safe house, it had everything they would ever need to hold the werewolves’ captive for as long as they felt like it. Stiles knew it wasn’t a good thing, but, it was the best option they had, right now, he just had to pray his plan worked and buy himself some time. He’d know in a few hours anyway. Know if any of them had any chance in making it out of here alive. 

“Come here.” Robin ordered, pulling on the leash and pulling Stiles to him, Stiles was staring at where Mark and Stuart had picked Derek’s body up and thrown him in the back of one of their SUV’s before driving into the woods. Stiles prayed that they decided to just dump Derek in the woods, that they didn’t decide to put a bullet in his brain, or bury him deep in the ground. Derek didn’t deserve that. And, if the pack made it out of here alive, he wanted them to at least be able to find their Alpha’s body. “This is how it’s going to work. We’re going to give them a few minutes to get settled in, and then I’ll take you to see them, so you can see they are unharmed, after that, you get to see them once a day, if you misbehave, don’t do exactly as I say, we’ll hurt them, if you try to escape, we’ll kill one of them, if you displease me, I’ll chop something off one of them. If you behave, if you do as you are told, you’ll get to see them for five minutes, once a day, and, as time goes on, I may extend the time, but, only if you behave. Do you understand?” Robin asked and Stiles nodded. “I said, do you understand?” 

“Yes.” Stiles snarled through gritted teeth.

“Yes what?” Robin smirked.

“Yes Sir.” Stiles replied. 

“I think I prefer ‘Master’” Robin taunted and Stiles pressed his lips into a tight line before sighing in defeat.

“Yes Master.” 

“Good boy.” Robin cooed and Stiles felt his stomach lurch with disgust when Robin reached out and stroked his cheek again. They stood in silence, Stiles glaring at the floor while Robin trailed a hand along his cheek, down his neck and around the back of his neck, until, unsurprisingly, he pulled Stiles closer, pressing their bodies flush together, “Tonight you’re going to do what I ask. You’re going to beg me.” 

“Yes Master.” Stiles repeated tonelessly and Robin smirked before pulling Stiles in for a kiss. Stiles held as still as he could, not fighting Robin off as he had done previously, just, allowing it to happen, it made him feel sick to his stomach but he couldn’t let anything happen to the pack, he had to behave. Robin pulled away a minute later, smirking as he took in Stiles’ appearance before he looked around at the clearing in front of the cabin.

“Ben!” He called and one of the men walked over, “I want a fighting ring set up out here within the next twenty-four hours, tomorrow night we’re going to have ourselves a fight to end all fights. Carla, Jeremy, I want you to take anyone who isn’t busy and find me some gladiators to fight The Kid, I don’t care if they’re willing or not. I want to draw a crowd. I want everyone to see that I’m in control of him now and that he’ll do exactly as I ask.” Robin grinned. “Isn’t that right Kid?” Robin taunted and Stiles nodded numbly, feeling like he was going to throw up any second. “I said, isn’t that right Kid!?” Robin growled and Stiles glared at him.

“Yes master.” Stiles snarled. 

“Good.” Robin turned back to the men that had gathered around them, “Hurry up then, tomorrow evening we make a name for ourselves. Nobody will dare challenge us. We’ll be kings among hunters. We’ll be feared throughout the entire country.” Robin shouted and the men cheered loudly, Stiles couldn’t help rolling his eyes as how fucking ridiculous they all sounded. Robin gave a sharp tug on the leash and Stiles stumbled after him as he led him towards the house. 

Stiles took in everything he possibly could, counting the number of hunters in the room, checking to see the position of the furniture, he had to have a plan, he had to outthink them. They paused by the room that they had held him hostage in while they recorded the videos, Stiles refused to look up, afraid that he’d still see the chair tipped over on the floor, Robin gripped the back of his neck and forced Stiles to meet his gaze.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have a lot more fun in that room this time around, now that John’s not here to get in my way.” Robin smirked and Stiles fought his instincts to just kill Robin now, to just kill him and screw the consequences. He thought about his father, about the rest of the pack, and forced himself to take a calming breath. Fighting would do him no good right now, would do none of them any good. 

They continued through the house, past the stairs that led upstairs, Stiles knew there were bedrooms up there but he’d never actually been up there to know the layout and he’d need to know if they had any chance of escaping. They passed through the large living room and through into the smaller kitchen, the back door was open that led out into a small clearing that quickly got swallowed up by the trees surrounding them, Robin turned to the end wall of the kitchen and flipped the light switch, opening it out to reveal a key pad. Stiles watched as Robin keyed in the code, it hadn’t changed since last time and Stiles was grateful for that. The wall slid backwards and revealed a dark staircase, Robin pushed Stiles through it and the lights flickered to life on the walls, they went down the stairs, easily descending two or three levels into the earth before the stairs stopped and Stiles looked around. Nothing seemed to have changed.

There was a small room that had several hallways branching off it, there was a wall of screens on the far wall, showing the interior and exterior of the house, meaning that nobody would be able to sneak up on them without their knowledge. There was still a second staircase on the far-right side that Stiles knew led to sleeping quarters for anyone staying down here, the hallways on the right led to the armoury and to the infirmary, the hallways on the left led to more sleeping quarters and a kitchen and a second hallway went to the cells. He shivered at the thought of the cells, he’d always dreaded when Robin and John were done with him for the day and they’d throw him back in a cell, it was dark, cold, and it was the only time when Stiles allowed his mask to falter, when he would cry himself to sleep because he was scared, scared that they were going to kill him, scared that they weren’t, scared that Derek and Scott were never going to come, scared that they meant what they said that Stiles wasn’t pack and that they didn’t care. 

Robin tugged on the lead, forcing Stiles to take faltering steps towards the hallway that led to the cells, he watched as Robin greeted the eleven hunters that were milling around the room, on guard watch, obviously to make sure Stiles didn’t do something stupid like try and kill everyone upstairs in an attempt to rescue his pack. He wouldn’t be able to get down here and kill them before they saw what was happening on the cameras and therefore they’d be able to kill his pack. 

They walked down the hallway and Robin took the keys off the hook that hung outside the solid door, unlocking it and pushing Stiles ahead of him into the room. It was as dark and miserable as Stiles remembered. Each member of the pack had been put into a separate cell, they were still bound and gagged which Stiles didn’t understand, the cages were made out of steel with mountain ash filling the bars and wolfsbane coating the outside, the humans wouldn’t be strong enough to bend the bars and the wolves wouldn’t be able to get past the wolfsbane or the mountain ash. They’d been fitted with their own collars and Stiles knew it was to shock them or kill them depending on how badly Stiles misbehaved, it only made him more certain to behave.

Their faces were pale and they showed the evidence of their grief, Derek was dead and it was Stiles’ fault, he couldn’t bear to look them in the eyes, knowing that he’d see the pure hatred there. Robin gripped the back of his neck again, the collar digging tight into his skin and Stiles flinched at the touch, he didn’t want this, he’d wanted to face Robin down on his own, he’d wanted to kill him and make sure that his pack was never threatened again, and, instead, his pack were prisoners and Derek could well be dead. 

“You see? I told you, they’ll be safe and sound so long as you behave.” Robin explained, Stiles could hear the muffled shouting that came through the gags but he couldn’t make out any words. “Do you understand?” Robin queried and Stiles gasped when the collar was tugged a little tighter.

“Yes master.” Stiles replied, his voice rough with the lack of air. 

“Good. Now, down on your knees.” Robin ordered and Stiles clenched his fists before lowering himself to his knees on the floor, avoiding eye contact and glaring at the floor, he had felt helpless plenty of times in his life, but, he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt as helpless as he felt right now, his pack were in cages, Derek could be dead and Stiles, Stiles had his hands free and couldn’t even fight this monster, couldn’t even defend himself, because if he did, if he did then somebody he cared about would die. “This is so much easier than I thought, I wish I’d realised just how easy you are to manipulate back then, think how different things would have been if I’d just threatened to gut your daddy back then.” Robin taunted and Stiles continued glaring at the floor, the wolves were still shouting through their gags but Stiles ignored them, trying to block out all sounds and just focus on his own breathing, it was the only thing that was going to stop him from having a panic attack, he knew what Robin was going to say next and the only way he was going to deal with this was to be able to block everything out. Close his eyes and imagine he was somewhere else, doing something else. 

“I like this side of you, silent, submissive, it’s good to see. Good to know that I’ve broken you.” Robin continued and Stiles remained silent, he hated Robin, despised him, not as much as Stiles despised himself, but, still, it was a close thing. “You know what I want Kid. So, get on with it.” Robin ordered and Stiles continued staring at the floor, ignoring the way that his hands were shaking as he reached forwards and his fingers fumbled on the buckle of Robin’s belt. 

The muffled shouting quietened for a moment before it suddenly seemed to redouble in volume and Stiles flinched when the button on Robin’s jeans popped open. Robin was smirking down at him and Stiles felt his stomach flip with disgust, he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t, his hands were shaking so badly that he could barely even clench his hands into fists. Robin pulled harder on the collar and Stiles coughed and spluttered as his air supply was cut off, Robin was laughing at him, pulling his jeans open and pulling his boxers down, his hard cock standing out proudly in front of him. 

“You’re going to do this, or do I need to make an example of one of your precious pack members? Would you prefer if I got one of them to do it instead?” Robin laughed and Stiles’ gaze darted up to stare at him in shock, “Would you prefer that Kid? Maybe the ginger one? She looks like she’d be good. Or maybe the curly blonde one, he looks almost as innocent as you, I suppose I could go for experience instead, maybe get your dad’s girlfriend to do it instead. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. Your dad might though. He’d probably prefer you did this, hell, he thinks you should have to, he knows, he knows what a monster you are, you murdered his Alpha after all, you think he gives a shit what I do to you now? You think any of them do? You deserve this. You know it. They know it.” Robin snarled and Stiles felt himself crumbling under the weight of his words. Derek was dead, Derek was dead and it was his fault. He couldn’t let the pack suffer any more than they already had because of him. 

He moved forwards, moving so that his nose was pressed into Robin’s crotch, just to the side of his cock, Stiles took a steadying breath, closing his eyes and pretending that this wasn’t happening, before he turned his head to the side and pressed his mouth against Robin’s cock, moving upwards towards the tip, his stomach twisting so uncomfortably that he knew if he opened his mouth he was certain to be sick. He clenched his fists tightly, he had to do this, he had to, if he didn’t want Robin to take an interest in another member of the pack, if he didn’t want one of them to get hurt, or worse, he had to do this. 

Once he got to the tip Robin grabbed onto his hair, pulling Stiles’ head back to look at him firmly. 

“If you bite me again I will kill one of them, slowly, painfully. Do you understand me?” Robin threatened and Stiles did his best to nod with the tight grip in his hair, “I said, do you understand me!?” Robin shouted and Stiles glared at him with hatred.

“Yes master.” Stiles replied, his disgust and hatred of the man evident in every syllable. 

“Good.” Robin replied evenly before he pulled Stiles’ mouth forward and slammed his cock into his mouth. Stiles choked, doing his best not to bite down on the foreign object as Robin pulled back slightly and then pushed back in, Stiles relaxed his jaw and just let it happen, there was nothing else he could do. He scrunched his eyes closed, breathed through his mouth and did his best to pretend he was somewhere else, ignoring the muffled shouting from the pack, ignoring the sting of Robin’s hand almost pulling his hair out, ignoring what was happening right now, it was the only way he could handle it. 

Sure, it wasn’t the first time he’d given someone a blowjob, but they’d had to break his jaw to even attempt it, and he’d still fought like someone possessed, and, when they tied him down, he made sure he bit anything that came anywhere near his mouth. This was the first time that he had allowed it to happen, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. The pack might hate him right now, and they had every right too, but, he still cared about them, and he couldn’t let them get hurt because of him, no matter what Robin wanted him to do. 

It didn’t last very long, or, well, Stiles didn’t know that much about how long was normal or not, but, it didn’t seem like it lasted very long, he wasn’t going to comment on that, he was kind of grateful that it was over quickly. Robin held his head in place as he came down from his orgasm, ordering Stiles to swallow before, finally, after Stiles had complied, he let go off him. Stiles felt the tears running down his cheeks and swiped at them quickly, staying on his knees and returning his gaze to the floor, waiting for the next order. This had broken him, he’d been so strong for so long, held out against torture and beatings and molestation and everything else they’d thrown at him, but this? There was no fighting this. He couldn’t fight this. And it broke him. It broke every bit of determination and willpower he’d ever had. He was useless. A liability. He was no good to any of them. They deserved better. He wished, for the first time, that they’d never found him in the ring, that they’d lived out the rest of their lives believing that Stiles had died the night Gerard tortured him, no matter what it meant for him.

Robin dragged him out of the room and Stiles refused to look up at the pack, instead following after Robin like the pathetic human he was. 

The sun had set by the time Stuart and Mark returned from burying Derek’s body in the woods, they stank of alcohol though and Stiles hoped that they hadn’t spent the day burying Derek but rather that they’d gone and found somewhere to grab a drink or two before returning to the house. The other hunters had lit a bonfire in the clearing and they’d parked several motorhomes around the bonfire, it could almost look cosy if Stiles didn’t know that they were all despicable human beings who were threatening his pack.

Robin had tied Stiles’ leash around a nearby tree and then chained his hands around the trunk and put another set of chains around his ankles for good measure. 

“You can stay here until I’m ready to take you to bed.” Robin said, patting his cheek a little too hard before he pressed a rough kiss to Stiles’ lips. “You did good earlier, I’m impressed. Make all your blowjobs like that and we won’t have any issues.” Stiles stared down at the ground, refusing to look him in the eyes as Robin smacked him hard across the face, studied his handiwork for a moment and then strode towards the fire a few meters away. 

Stiles sank to the ground, ignoring the shivers that ran through his body, it was a cool night and he was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, any warmth from the fire didn’t reach him and it wasn’t like he ran as hot as a werewolf. He leaned his head back against the trunk and let out a trembling sigh, he needed to think a way out of this, a way to rescue the pack, a way to get them all out of here safely, if they were safe then he could fight with everything he had. 

Several hunters appeared a few hours later, there was a crowd of people and creatures with them, some of them seemed to be moving willingly, but, the chains on some of the others left no illusions that they weren’t here by choice. Robin, who had been drinking steadily since he had left Stiles tied to the tree, had cheered loudly and the rest of the hunters had followed suit, cheering as their ‘gladiators’ were taken to their ‘chambers’, Stiles knew they meant the cells. 

Some of the hunters remained sober, they were working on building the fighting ring for tomorrow night, but, the majority of them had been drinking for several hours and Stiles wondered if he’d be able to take them all out now, while they were inebriated, then he thought back to the other hunter’s downstairs, the ones watching the cameras, and he knew he had no option. He had to sit here and wait for whatever came next. 

Derek sucked in a breath, his mouth filling with dirt, he coughed, his hands trying to brush the dirt away, his body moved sluggishly and it took him too long to realise he was trapped in the earth, he held his breath, spitting out the dirt as best he could and then pressing his lips into a tight line as his fingers scrabbled through the dirt. 

In less than thirty seconds he was clawing his way out of the ground, his feet were still buried but his head, chest and arms were all free. Derek sucked in the air gratefully, spitting out more dirt and staring around him in surprise, he had died, hadn’t he? He’d felt Stiles’ hands around his throat, he’d been too exhausted to even attempt to fight him and he wasn’t sure he would have done anyway, Stiles hadn’t had a choice, if he hadn’t done as Robin ordered then Noah would have been murdered instead. God! Stiles! The pack! Derek pulled himself out of the earth, feeling surprisingly rested considering he’d been dead for at least a little while. The sky was dark around him so he assumed he’d been out of it for the entire day, god, he needed to get back to that house, he needed to check the pack were all okay, needed to make sure they were all alive. 

He wasn’t sure how Stiles had managed to kill him and yet not kill him permanently, he made a mental note to ask him about it as soon as they got out of this, right after he apologised for leading the pack into a trap and putting Stiles in such a horrible situation. He should have realised that Stiles didn’t want them there for precisely that reason, but, the thought that Stiles was facing down Robin and however many other hunters had made Derek irrational, it didn’t matter that Stiles could take care of himself, it mattered that Stiles was out there by himself and Derek needed to know he was okay. Instead, they’d made the situation worse and Stiles had been forced to choose between saving himself or saving the pack. 

Derek shook the remaining dirt from himself, his hands reaching up and touching the back of his neck and finding a little blood there, the skin below it was freshly healed so Derek didn’t think it was anything to worry about, he felt fine, in fact, he felt more than fine, he was good, now he just needed to make sure his pack was okay too. 

He listened intently for a few minutes, wandering first one way then the other, until he heard the unmistakable sound of voices in one direction and he took off at a run. He ran for about ten minutes until the voices grew louder and then he caught Stiles’ scent and he pushed himself to run faster until finally the clearing became visible through the trees and he slowed to a walk, taking in the scene in front of him. 

The clearing was filled with hunters, cars and campervans, there was a bonfire lit near one side and it looked like they were setting up something on the other side, Derek wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be but he couldn’t focus on that right now, instead his gaze had settled on Stiles. Stiles was tied to a tree on the opposite side of the clearing, he had a bruise forming on the side of his face and Derek could see the way he was shaking with cold, but, the worst thing, the absolute worst thing, was the look of complete and utter defeat on Stiles’ face. He wanted to rush over there and hug him, hold him, tell it was all okay, but, no matter how badly he wanted to, he wasn’t a complete idiot, he couldn’t fight his way through all those hunters, he knew that. It didn’t change the fact that that was exactly what he wanted to do. But, still, he had to be smart about this. Stiles had given him a way out without any of them dying, he couldn’t waste that opportunity by ruining it now. 

He moved through the trees stealthily, the hunters were either too drunk or too stupid to even notice his presence, he circled the clearing easily and within minutes he was close enough to smell the complete defeat in Stiles’ scent, the disgust, the guilt, the anger, the helplessness, it almost overwhelmed Derek and he just wanted to hold Stiles and tell him it was okay. He couldn’t get close enough to do that, there were still several hunters within a few meters of Stiles and he knew they would see him if he moved forwards much more. 

“Stiles!” He hissed through gritted teeth, but Stiles didn’t seem to hear him, he was too oblivious, too wrapped up in his own thoughts and Derek didn’t even want to think about what was going through Stiles’ head right now. He crept forward a few inches, not wanting to reveal himself but needing Stiles to see him, “Stiles!” He hissed again, letting his eyes bleed Alpha red, his vision turning red for a moment before Stiles turned slightly, saw his glowing eyes in the dark and he let out a gasp of relief. 

“Oh, thank God!” Stiles breathed, barely loud enough for Derek to hear him, a quick grin appearing on his lips before he schooled his features back into a neutral mask for fear of giving Derek away. 

“The rest of the pack? Are they okay?” Derek asked quietly.

“They are alive.” Stiles informed him and Derek nodded, that was what he needed to hear, that they were alive, even if they weren’t safe yet. It was obvious that there was plenty that they needed to talk about, but, all that mattered right now was that they were all alive, they’d deal with everything else once they’d taken care of Robin and the other hunters.

“I assume you have some kind of plan here?” Derek muttered and Stiles paused, obviously trying to think of something.

“Well, now you aren’t dead I do.” Stiles replied quietly and Derek let out a huff of a laugh, trust Stiles to attempt to make a joke right now. 

“Alright, what do you need me to do?” Derek muttered, glancing around to make sure nobody was looking at him.

“Wait. Rest up. Tomorrow night, I’ll distract them. There’s a light switch in the kitchen, drops down, the key code is five, seven, four, six, eight, two. Go down the stairs, cells are down the left-hand corridor, they keep the keys on a hook outside the door, the bars have wolfsbane on them so don’t touch them, but, once the doors are open you should be fine, the mountain ash seal will be broken. Get them out the back door, out of the house, you’ll be safe.” Stiles hissed, his gaze focused on the hunters around the fire. “There’s cameras around the house so stay out of sight until they’re out, otherwise the hunters in the basement will kill the pack before you get anywhere near them. Get a hat or something to cover your face, I’m going to get the majority of them out here, but, Robin won’t leave the pack unguarded. Walk like you’re supposed to be there but keep your head down. Go downstairs, kill the hunters at the camera screens, get the pack out. Get them to safety. Before then, don’t show yourself, no matter what, if they see you it’s game over, the pack dies. Stay out of sight until I give you the signal.” 

“And how will I know what the signal is?” Derek asked.

“Trust me, you won’t miss it.” Stiles answered.

“Okay, got it.” Derek muttered in reply, then paused, staring at the bruise on the side of Stiles’ face, “Stiles, thank you. Thank you for saving us.” 

“Get them out. Make sure you get them out, no matter what happens, that’s all that matters. Get them out. Let me know when they’re safe. Howl or something.” Stiles said through gritted teeth, “And, um, I’m sorry, for, strangling you and that.” Stiles mumbled and Derek stared at him. He opened his mouth to reply when Robin stood up from the fire and moved towards them. Robin had stumbled away from the fire, so drunk he could barely stand, he fumbled with the keys to Stiles’ chains before he grabbed Stiles by the hair and pulled him to his feet and into a kiss. Stiles scrunched his eyes closed, pretending that the tongue getting shoved into his mouth didn’t remind him of the cock that had been shoved in there earlier, he clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself not to move, not to fight back, it didn’t matter that Derek was alive, until tomorrow night, the rest of the pack were still in danger.

“Come on, we’re going to find out exactly what you’re willing to do to keep your daddy alive.” Robin slurred, laughing and grabbing Stiles’ ass hard enough that he knew it would bruise, “I mean, we already know how far you’re willing to go, know what a little slut you are for my cock.” He laughed, grabbing the leash and pulling Stiles towards the house, stumbling as he went and pulling Stiles with him, “First I’m going to get you to suck my cock again, seems so you are just so good with that mouth of yours and then, then I’m going to fuck you so hard it’ll be a miracle if you can even walk tomorrow.” Robin taunted and Stiles felt sick to his stomach. He heard a low growl from the woods and glared at the ground, waving his hand to make sure that Derek stayed where he was, the pack needed Derek to rescue them, if the hunters caught him now that would never happen. Whatever happened to Stiles tonight, or tomorrow, it didn’t matter, so long as the pack were safe.

Derek watched as Stiles was dragged into the house by Robin and every instinct he had was telling him to tear Robin apart limb by limb, Robin had no right to touch Stiles like that, no right to touch him or kiss him or anything, and the very idea that Stiles had been forced into giving him a blowjob, it made Derek want to kill him more than anything else he’d ever wanted in his life. He should have asked, he should have asked Stiles if he was okay, but he didn’t, he’d asked about the pack. He just assumed that Stiles had been slapped around a bit, and, no, that wasn’t okay, but, he hadn’t looked that bad, just a bruise on his face and Derek hadn’t smelled any blood and he’d just thought Stiles was okay, but, Christ, Stiles wouldn’t be okay, couldn’t be okay. This was Derek’s fault. He should have trusted that Stiles could handle Robin and then the pack would have never been there and Stiles would have killed them all. 

He listened to the sound of other hunters making comments to Robin, congratulating him on getting The Kid on a leash, their laughter, Robin’s offers to let them have a play once he was done and Derek snarled, none of them would ever lay a finger on Stiles if he could help it. He saw a light flick on in one of the upstairs rooms and he glanced around, he figured he’d be able to climb a nearby tree, see into the room and not risk being seen by the hunters. He climbed the tree easily, settling on one of the higher branches and looking into the room, he knew he would be safe here, unseen, and this way he could… could what Derek? He thought to himself, this way he could watch Robin rape Stiles? Like that was acceptable? He should move forward, break the window, kill Robin before he got a chance to touch Stiles, kill any hunters that came running at Robin’s pained screams and then rescue his pack. 

No. He told himself firmly. If he intervened, then the pack would die before he could get to them. Stiles knew that for certain and he trusted Stiles more than anything, he had to stay where he was and out of sight until Stiles gave him the signal. 

“Take your clothes off.” Robin’s voice drew his attention back to the room and Derek watched as Stiles stared at the floor and Robin grabbed him by the chin, “Do you want me to repeat myself?” Robin threatened and Stiles shook his head, moving his trembling fingers to his jeans and unbuttoning them. “No, shirt first.” Robin ordered and Stiles gritted his teeth before pulling his shirt off and throwing it to the ground. Robin moved forwards, trailing his fingers over the scars across Stiles’ chest, moving to the circular tattoos at his side, Stiles visibly flinched at the contact and Derek growled, not wanting Stiles to have to suffer through this. “God, you are so fucking damaged.” Robin laughed before pulling Stiles into a bruising kiss, it was sloppy and messy and Robin was drunk enough that he stumbled and knocked them both backwards into the bed. He groped at Stiles who lay there unmoving, eyes scrunched closed in an attempt to pretend this wasn’t happening. “Jeans! Off! Get them off now.” Robin ordered, grabbing at Stiles’ jeans and practically ripping them off him, his boxers following after a moment later before he flipped Stiles over so he was lying on his stomach on the bed, his fists clenched tightly in the sheets. “You’re ass looks amazing, I can’t wait to fuck it, can’t wait to fuck you, can’t wait to tell everyone that I was the one who fucked you properly, I bet your Alpha didn’t do that good of a job, I bet he tried to be gentle, I bet he didn’t even make you moan, I’m not going to do that, I’m going to be rough with you, I’m going to fuck you, I’m going to make you scream so everyone gets to hear how well I can fuck you.” Robin said, grabbing his own trousers and pulling them off easily. 

Derek hated him, wanted to tear him apart with his bare hands, wanted to watch him beg for his life, wanted to take his time torturing him, take his time killing him, his wolf growling in agreement, when this was over, when the pack was safe, Derek would make sure Robin was left alive so that he could drag his death out, so that he could torture Robin in the same way the man had tortured Stiles, was still torturing him. 

“Get on your fucking knees.” Robin slurred, grabbing hold of Stiles’ hair and dragging him from the bed and practically ramming his cock into Stiles’ mouth. Derek’s claws tore into the tree, his wolf screaming at him to go in there and kill Robin, to save Stiles, to stop this. He dug his claws in deeper, practically ripping the tree in half as his vision turned red and he stayed in place, knowing that if he interfered his whole pack would die. Thankfully it didn’t seem to last long and when Robin came, Stiles jerking his head back and spitting the cum on the floor, his legs collapsed underneath him and he fell onto the bed, he let out a bark of laughter, rolling slightly as he tried to sit back up.

“That was good Kid, better than earlier even, you’re going to be such a good little slut for me by the time I’ve trained you properly.” Robin praised right before he smacked Stiles across the other side of the face, knocking him to the ground with the force of it, then grabbing Stiles by the hair and pulling him up and into the bed, pulling him into a kiss that seemed to miss Stiles’ mouth before he fell backwards, laughing happily and seemingly so pleased with himself before he grabbed the leash attached to Stiles’ collar and tied it to the bedpost. “You’re staying here with me tonight, and, in the morning, I’m going to fuck you properly.” Robin said before he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Derek watched as Stiles pulled uncomfortably on the collar, Derek fought back a growl when he realised that Robin had put a padlock on it, clearly to stop Stiles from making any attempt at escape. Stiles ran a trembling hand over his face, swiping at the tears that were forming in his eyes, obviously not aware that anyone could see him right now, it made Derek want to hold him, cuddle him, let him know that it was okay and that Derek would do everything within his power to make sure Stiles would never have to do anything he didn’t want to ever again. 

Stiles took a few steadying breaths, obviously trying to calm himself, before he slid to the floor, ignoring the way the collar pulled tighter on his neck but it at least put some distance between himself and Robin. He pulled his knees to his chest, wrapped his hands around his knees and did his best to rest, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a long day but, by the end of it, the pack would be safe.

Derek knew he needed to move when the sun started to rise, he knew that he was too exposed where he was, but, he had to stay, he had to watch Stiles, had to know that he was okay. Robin woke up around eight in the morning, Stiles had been awake for hours by then, his gaze was fixed on the wall opposite the bed, still curled up in an attempt to protect himself, Derek’s heart had broken at the sight but he knew that he couldn’t comfort Stiles yet, he’d have to wait, have to follow the plan. 

Robin groaned, obviously hungover, before he caught sight of the top of Stiles’ head above the bed and grabbed him by the hair, dragging him into the bed.

“I thought I told you that you were staying here with me.” Robin complained. 

“I did.” Stiles whispered.

“I meant in the bed, not on the floor. Piece of shit.” Robin said, smacking Stiles around the head before his gaze focused on the fact that Stiles was still very much naked and his cock stiffened in interest. “Lie down face down on the bed, now.” Robin growled and Stiles clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and complied with the order. 

Every instinct Derek had, wolf and human alike, told him to go in there and murder Robin now, before he got a chance to do anything worse to Stiles, but, how could he? How could he risk the lives of his entire pack? He knew it was wrong, he hated it, hated every second of this, but, there was nothing he could do, not without exposing himself, which would get all of them killed. 

Robin smirked as he raised a hand and slapped Stiles’ ass hard, leaving a perfect handprint on his cheek, Robin groped Stiles’ ass for a moment before he raised his hand and repeated the motion on his other cheek. 

“Now, next time I say you stay here, what do you do?” Robin asked as he slapped Stiles’ ass again. 

“I stay in the bed with you.” Stiles snarled. 

“Good. Now, you don’t want me to go and punish one of your pathetic pack do you?” Robin taunted, smacking Stiles’ ass again so that it was now bright red and covered in his hand prints. 

“No.” Stiles replied.

“No, what?” 

“No master.” Stiles sighed quietly, sounding defeated. 

“Good boy.” Robin said, groping Stiles’ ass again, pulling his cheeks apart and grinning widely as his fingers moved towards his hole. Derek could see the visible tension in Stiles’ body, could see how every muscle had locked up and he was evidently fighting his own instincts to stop this, Derek couldn’t bear to watch, this wasn’t fair, Stiles didn’t deserve this, not after surviving so long by himself, not after surviving the rings, surviving that hell, and just when they’d gotten him back, just when they’d been moving towards getting things to be okay between them again, Stiles was being subjected to this. It wasn’t fair. 

Robin positioned himself above Stiles, gripping his hips tight enough that it was already bruising and Stiles had his eyes squeezed closed, his hands clenched in the sheets and, God, Derek just wanted to hug him and tell him it was all going to be okay. 

“I’m going to fuck you like this.” Robin taunted, “I’m not going to spend time making sure it’s okay for you, I’m not going to give you a chance to relax or even to get hard yourself, this, this is all about my pleasure, and, believe me, fucking into your nice tight ass, hearing you scream as my cock practically splits you in two, that’s going to drive me crazy, I’m going to fuck you so hard. But, before that,” Robin’s grin turned truly evil, “You’re going to beg me. Beg me to fuck you. Tell me how much you want my cock.” 

“I…” Stiles began, his voice cracking as Robin moved forwards slightly, sliding his cock between Stiles’ ass cheeks. 

“Do better than that Kid. Beg me. Beg me to fuck you or I go downstairs and shoot one of them, maybe Scott? I mean, you guys were so close when you were younger, you could be close again, but, not if you get him killed, which is what’s going to happen if you don’t beg me right now.” Robin grinned, evidently getting a lot of enjoyment from Stiles’ predicament. 

“Please.” Stiles whispered through gritted teeth, “Please, master, please, please fuck me.” Stiles said, his voice cracking and Derek could see the tears forming on his eyelashes. 

“Louder.” Robin ordered, still rubbing his cock in between Stiles’ ass cheeks.

“I want you to fuck me, please, master, please.” Stiles begged, louder this time although his voice still cracked and there were tears running down his cheeks as he forced the words out. 

“God yes.” Robin panted, pushing his hips forward.

“Boss!” There was a loud knock on the door and one of the hunters entered the room, Robin turning to glare at him from where he was still positioned between Stiles’ legs. The hunter staring at them for a moment before his gaze drifted to Stiles’ ass and he shifted, evidently doing his best to adjust himself discreetly. 

“This best be fucking important.” Robin snarled angrily. 

“Yes boss, sorry, but, it’s the cells, we need you down there, now.” The man said, and Robin growled, pulling away from Stiles and throwing on a pair of boxers followed by a pair of jeans before he grabbed Stiles’ leash, and tugged him off the bed. 

“Come on, perhaps your pack need a reminder that they need to behave too.” Robin said, pulling on the leash so that Stiles followed after him, completely naked, the bruises on his ass and hips obvious for everyone to see. 

Derek jumped out of the tree and moved around the treeline, making sure he could see through the kitchen windows, saw the hunter pull down the light switch, key in the same code that Stiles had already given him, and then watched with fascination as the wall slid down to reveal a hidden staircase that the hunter, Robin and Stiles all disappeared down before the wall slid back into place and Derek could no longer hear them. 

Stiles did his best to cover himself as the walked through the house, he felt the stares of the hunters as they passed, those that stared at the scars across his chest, those whose stares were a little lower, it made him feel sick to his stomach. He followed after Robin, managing to get down the stairs to the basement without being pulled about too roughly, he couldn’t wait until tonight, until he had lured all the hunters outside and Derek had rescued the pack, the instant they were safe he was going to slaughter every last one of the hunters gathered here. 

They entered the cells and Stiles stared in awe at where one of the hunters had obviously been thrown backwards, smashed into the opposite cell door and had somehow, and Stiles wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to figure it out, melted into the bars, not completely, just enough that his skin had started to melt to the bars and he’d obviously died screaming in agony. Stiles couldn’t help the smirk of satisfaction he felt at that. 

“How the hell did that happen!?” Robin squawked in shock, tugging Stiles past the cells and stopping outside the cell that held the prisoner that had obviously caused this.

“We think she’s a witch sir. We took her gag off to give her breakfast and she muttered something, and then next thing, well, that happened.” The hunter explained and Stiles grinned at the woman who had arrived with the pack yesterday, she raised an eyebrow at him seemingly equally amused at the situation before she wrinkled her nose in disgust and Stiles deflated, even this woman that he didn’t know was looking at him with hatred in her eyes.

“Kill her then.” Robin said dismissively.

“No!” Stiles shouted in denial and Robin turned to glare at him. 

“What!?” Robin hissed dangerously and Stiles ducked his gaze, knowing that if Robin saw the hatred there he’d never be able to pull this off, he needed to convince Robin that he was broken, defeated, no longer defiant. 

“I, just, you said you’d keep them alive if I behaved myself, she’s part of the pack, she came with the pack, I’m behaving, so, you can’t, you can’t kill her.” Stiles muttered and Robin glared at him.

“And why not? They need to learn to behave, this will be an example to them, you aren’t the only one that needs to behave if they want to stay alive.” Robin snapped.

“I…” Stiles began, looking pained before he clenched his fists and cleared his throat, “Master, please, whatever you want, I’m, I’m begging you, please.” Stiles pleaded and Robin turned his attention fully to Stiles, a smirk on his lips. 

“Well, you do know how I like to hear you beg.” Robin replied, reaching around to grab at Stiles’ ass, ignoring the growls that were echoing in the cells around them, Stiles pointedly refusing to look at any of the pack, not wanting to see the hatred in their eyes, they hated him and they had every right to, even if Derek was alive, he’d still taken that risk, he could have just as easily killed Derek, he didn’t blame them for hating him. “That seems to annoy them, doesn’t it?” Robin taunted, “You think it would annoy them if I told them everything else you’ve done for me last night? Or maybe, maybe, they don’t care what I do to you, because you murdered their Alpha, you killed their Alpha in cold blood. You’re sick. You’re a disease. They’d be better off without you around. You’re a monster Kid, the most talented monster in the business no doubt, but, still, a monster.” Robin hissed into his ear and Stiles knew he was right, they would be better off without him, and they’d get that, but, first, he needed to get them out of here safely, once they were safe then he really didn’t care what happened to him.

“Boss, we’ve got the other gladiators here, if you want to take a look?” One of the hunters asked and Stiles was almost grateful when Robin’s hands slipped from his ass, except then he tugged on the leash forcefully and Stiles nearly fell to his knees as he stumbled forwards. They walked past the cages that held the rest of the pack, Stiles’ fingers tapping out a rhythm against his bare thigh as he prayed that someone understood what he was trying to say. The far cages were full with other people and creatures, Stiles recognised some of them easily, the werewolves that flashed their eyes were easy to identify, as were the wraiths and the djinn, he hated fighting djinn, one touch and they sent you into a hallucination, and the wraiths were equally as dangerous, stealthy and super strong, not to mention that they could melt your brains. Stiles was curious how they’d managed to round up such a selection of creatures on such a short timeline but he couldn’t think about that now, instead he had to start planning for how he was going to beat them, they all had super strength, super speed, super hearing, not to mention most of them had natural weapons like claws or fangs. It was going to be a difficult task, plus, Stiles was exhausted, his head was ringing from the last time Robin had hit him and his ass hurt from the beating, he’d been through worse, of course, but it didn’t take away from the fact he ached right now and he wanted to be at home, with his pack surrounding him, and he knew, no matter what happened today, he’d never get to have that again.


	20. Chapter 20

Lydia had never felt such rage in her life, she’d been angry, sure, hell, she’d been pissed, aggravated, annoyed, frustrated, and a million other emotions, but, god, she had never felt so much rage that her vision was almost turning red with it. She was sure the rest of the pack were feeling it too. They should have known, they all should have known that Robin would have laid a trap for them, that he’d been expecting them, they walked straight into a trap and now, well, Derek was dead and Stiles was being tortured and raped by this monster. She wasn’t an idiot, she could see the bruises on his ass, the dark finger marks on his hips, Robin had raped Stiles and there was nothing they could do about it, instead they had to sit here helplessly and hope that Robin showed them mercy. 

She watched as Stiles walked forwards, as he studied the other gladiators in the cages, and, god, she never wanted to see Stiles forced to fight again, never see that haunted look in his eyes again, and yet, because of them, because of their stupidity, Derek was dead and Stiles was a prisoner all over again. But it was worse than that because Stiles couldn’t even defy them for fear of one of the pack facing punishment, Stiles was, he was defeated. Even she could smell it coming off him and she didn’t have the sense of smell that the wolves had, she wondered how they could even tolerate it. 

She saw Stiles’ fingers tapping out a pattern against his leg and she stared at them in confusion, wondering what the hell he was doing before her eyes widened in realisation and her mind started to race. It had been a while since she’d used Morse code but she hadn’t forgotten the basics. She stared at his fingers, focusing every ounce of concentration as she spelled out what Stiles was saying, her mouth dropping open in shock despite the gag because, despite the fact she knew she hadn’t made a mistake, she thought she had to have done because what Stiles was saying wasn’t possible, ‘D is alive, tonight, be ready.’ Derek was dead, they’d all seen it, they’d seen Stiles kill him, seen the hunters cart his body off into the woods. There was no way Derek was alive. It wasn’t possible. 

She looked around at the rest of the pack, Noah and Peter were both staring at Stiles’ fingers, both of their eyes going wide a few moments later and then looking around at the rest of the pack, meeting Lydia’s gaze and nodding firmly, they’d got the message, they’d all understood, somehow, Derek was alive and he was going to get them out of here, tonight. Now Lydia, Noah and Peter needed to get the message to the rest of the pack who hadn’t seemed to understand Stiles’ message and who were instead growling at Robin, their eyes flashing at the man dangerously, feeling completely helpless as they watched the man abuse their packmate, abuse Stiles. 

Robin nodded in amusement as he viewed the gladiators through the cages, this would be a good chance to decide which order he wanted them to fight tonight. He already had a good idea of how this was going to go, and, by the end of tonight, nobody would doubt that The Kid was the best in the business and that he was completely controlled by Robin. 

“Alright, I want the djinn first, then we’ll have a couple of wolves, then one of the wraiths, then the vamp, I want another vampire as the final fight, but, one that looks better than this one, not as weak and scrawny, I want it to look like a fair fight.” Robin rambled, walking back towards the main door.

“What about the witch?” One of the hunters asked as they paused outside Rachel’s cell, Robin turned to look at Stiles, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“What do you think Kid? You think we should keep her alive? Or should I just kill her now?” Robin asked and Stiles glared at the floor in defeat. 

“Don’t kill her, please.” Stiles muttered.

“And what are you going to do for me in return?” Robin smirked, pushing Stiles forward so that he slammed into the bars of Noah’s cage face first, felt Robin come up behind him, felt his body press against the length of Stiles’ body. “Why don’t you beg me again? Why don’t you let them see just how pathetic you are?” Robin taunted, grabbing at Stiles’ ass again, Stiles gritted his teeth, knowing what Robin wanted to hear, but, somehow, saying it in front of all of these people, in front of the pack, in front of his dad, it just made it worse. “Don’t tell me you’ve got all shy. Beg me Kid, or she dies.” 

“Please, master,” Stiles started, his voice cracking and his breath becoming ragged as he tried to keep his fear under control, even if he felt like it was a losing battle, “I want you to fuck me, please.” He whispered, staring at the floor, humiliation heating his features, as Robin laughed, reaching around and grabbing hold of his cock, Robin looked up and met Noah’s outraged gaze as he lazily stroked Stiles’ soft cock. 

“Say it again, louder this time.” Robin grinned and Stiles gripped the bars in front of him tightly, scrunching his eyes tight shut as Robin pulled at him too hard. “I said, say it again.” Robin warned and Stiles growled. 

“I want you to fuck me master, please.” Stiles begged, flinching as he felt Robin’s bare skin against his back and wishing he could get the bars to move so he could be in the cell with his dad instead, that Robin would be on the other side and he would be safe away from him. 

“Well, with an offer like that, who could resist?” Robin smirked, “I could do it right here you know, right in front of your daddy, would you like that? Would you like it if he had to watch? Got to see what a good little slut you are? That you like a nice big cock in your ass? I bet you’re so tight, I bet your Alpha barely even stretched you, bet he had a tiny cock, didn’t know how to satisfy you, such a waste, that he got to take your virginity like that, I would have made it special, I would have spent all night pounding into your ass, I would have made you scream my name over and over, but, no, instead, I’m just going to make you scream.” Robin said, undoing the button on his jeans and Stiles fought back the wave of panic that was threatening to overwhelm him. 

“I’m still a virgin!” He said quickly and Robin froze.

“What?” He asked suspiciously. 

“Derek didn’t fuck me, we got under the covers and we planned the escape from the cages, he didn’t fuck me, he didn’t even touch me, I’m still a fucking virgin okay!?” Stiles shouted. 

“And why should I believe you?” Robin said.

“Probably because he’s telling the truth.” A voice said from the doorway and Stiles froze, sure his heart was suddenly going a mile a minute because that voice, that wasn’t possible, he was dead. Stiles was sure he was dead. 

“Marcus, a pleasure to see you.” Robin said stiffly, “Where did they drag you in from? I thought you died when the ring collapsed?” 

“They didn’t drag me in from anywhere, I heard The Kid was fighting and I decided I should come have a chance to fight him again, seems so he left me to die and all.” Marcus replied and Stiles was fucking terrified, how the hell was Marcus alive, he was supposed to be dead, Stiles had put a sword through his chest, he should be dead. 

“Oh yes, I did hear about that, now, I’m curious why you’d volunteer to fight him though, what’s in it for you?” Robin asked curiously. 

“Easy, when I beat him, I get him as my pet instead, and, you don’t fuck him before the fight, like I said, he’s telling the truth, the Alpha didn’t fuck him, and, I’m planning on being the one to take his virginity, I’m the one that gets to make him scream, one way or another.” Marcus grinned ferally, flashing his claws threateningly. 

“And why would I agree to your terms? I mean, I could just kill you now and fuck him myself.” 

“You’re worried he’s going to lose? I thought you said he was the best in the business?” Marcus smirked and Robin glared at him.

“He is.” Robin argued, grabbing Stiles’ leash. “Fine, you want a deal, you’ve got it. You beat him, you get him, however you want, but, he beats you, I’ll let him kill you.” 

“Deal.” Marcus smirked, gripping Robin’s hand as they shook on it and then Marcus turned to Stiles and ran a claw up his chest, just about breaking the skin, “When I beat you, I’m going to fuck you and then I’m going to kill you, hell, I might kill you while I’m still fucking you, I’m going to slide my claws through your skin, I’m going to make you scream until your heart gives out.” 

“When I beat you, I’m going to cut your head off.” Stiles growled back, hoping he sounded just as threatening even if his heart was beating so loudly in his ears he thought he might have gone deaf. 

“Well, this makes for an interesting fight.” Robin smirked, pulling on the leash so that Stiles was pressed tight to his side, “I guess we’ll have to go get him dressed then, don’t want to get too distracted beforehand.” Robin said, pulling Stiles towards the stairs.

“Boss? The witch?” One of the hunters called.

“Put billing’s root and nightshade in her cell. That’ll stop her from casting, only an idiot would cast with that there.” Robin replied, glancing around at the other cells with disgust, “And, you can take the gags and chains of the rest of them too. They might as well get comfortable, they’re going to be here for a while after all.” Robin smirked before exiting the room and dragging Stiles up the stairs and back into the main house, up the stairs to the bedroom where he allowed Stiles to put on his jeans but no boxers and he watched him the entire time. 

As soon as the gags were taken out Noah started screaming abuse at the hunters, grabbing hold of the bars and then gasping and letting go when his hands burned from the wolfsbane. 

“You bastards! If you touch my son I’ll kill you, I’m going to kill you! I’ll kill every single one of you!” Noah screamed but it made no difference, the hunters were out of the room and they evidently either couldn’t hear Noah or didn’t care about his threats. The other gladiators seemed to be too wrapped up in their own thoughts and Marcus had strolled out of the room with clear amusement in his features.

“Did you get the message?” Peter whispered, barely audible even to those with wolf hearing. 

“What message?” Scott asked in shock and Peter rolled his eyes, tapping out the same pattern on his thigh.

“You got it too?” Noah queried and Lydia nodded. 

“D is alive. Tonight. Be ready.” Lydia quoted and the pack looked at her in shock. 

“’D is alive’? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cora hissed, “Derek’s dead, Stiles killed him, we all saw that.” 

“It’s not like he had any choice in the matter!” Scott argued.

“I’m not saying he did and I’m not saying it’s his fault, I’m just saying we all saw Derek die! He’s dead. There’s no way he’s alive. You’ve misread it.” Cora hissed.

“Well who the hell else would ‘D’ be?” Isaac snapped.

“I don’t know! But, I watched my brother die right in front of me! He’s dead! Okay!? Dead! Whatever you thought, you’re wrong!” Cora shouted. 

“Did anyone else feel the bond break?” Ethan asked, “Just, I didn’t? And, surely, we should feel the bond break, shouldn’t we? When our Alpha dies?” 

“I did before, when, with the fire. Talia, I felt it. But, not this time.” Peter said and Cora stared at him. 

“I, um, you’re right, I felt it when mom, but, yeah, not this time. Does that mean…how can he be?” Cora muttered in shock.

“We’ll deal with that later, right now, we need to get ready, Derek is coming, we need to be ready.” Lydia said firmly.

“And when were any of you going to tell me that this Stiles that we were rescuing is The Kid?” Rachel asked and all heads turned in her direction.

“What difference does it make?” Kira queries and Rachel scoffed.

“None, but, anyone who is anybody knows who The Kid is, he’s a legend, everyone knows who he is. It would have been nice to tell me exactly who it was I was helping. After all, it’ll be good to have him owe me one when this is over.” 

“He won’t owe you anything. We will. And he’s so much more than just The Kid. He’s our pack and we’ll do anything to protect him.” Scott argued. 

Derek had done as Stiles had ordered, he’d managed to snatch a hat and a hoodie from one of the cars parked in the clearing without anyone seeing him. He’d stayed hidden in the woods, keeping away from the house so that nobody could see him and yet he wasn’t far enough away that he couldn’t hear the voices, hear people discussing The Kid, like he was some kind of celebrity, like he was some kind of prize. 

As the day continued he heard more and more people arriving, all of them excited about the fights tonight, Derek clenched his fists at that, hating the idea of Stiles having to fight again but knowing it was the only way to get the hunters out of the house and get to the pack safely. Stiles could handle himself, Derek knew that, he just had to ignore all of his instincts that told him to protect Stiles. 

His vision had been red permanently since he’d heard Stiles grunt in pain, his heartbeat accelerating quickly, he’d climbed into a tree that overlooked the clearing and had seen Stiles tied face first to one of the trees, a red welt running across the length of his back and Robin was standing behind him, a thin piece of wood in his hands as he laughed loudly.

“Say it again.” Robin ordered and Stiles tensed.

“Please master.” Stiles replied and Robin grinned.

“I love hearing you say that.” He smiled before he smacked the wood across Stiles’ skin again and Stiles gritted his teeth and hissed in pain. “Again!” Robin commanded, Stiles braced himself, ready for the next hit, snarling out the words in anger, crying out slightly when the stick hit him again and he felt the skin break under the contact. 

“Boss?” One of the hunters queried and Robin turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue, “Your VIP’s have arrived. You said to let you know.” 

“Oh yes. Of course. Bring them over. They did say they wanted to meet The Kid.” Robin grinned, smacking the stick across Stiles’ back again so that it broke his skin properly and blood spilled down his back, Stiles let out a strangled cry of pain, Derek had growled and his vision had turned red and Robin had turned to meet his guests. 

“Robin, I heard you had The Kid under your control, I assume if you’ve got him tied up then it’s not true?” A woman said stiffly, studying Stiles tied to the tree. 

“Of course it’s true. We’re just having a little fun. The Kid enjoys this, we’re just getting him ready for tonight.”

“He enjoys it?” She queried in surprise.

“Oh yes, he does, very much. See for yourself.” Robin turned back towards Stiles, “Kid? You were saying?” 

“Again please master.” Stiles replied sounding pained and Robin complied, smacking the stick across Stiles’ skin again. 

“How odd.” The woman sniffed, “Oh well, I guess we all have our fetishes.” 

“That we do.” Robin replied smugly, “Now, why don’t you tell me about your fetishes over a drink?” Robin asked.

“Providing you bring The Kid with you, there’s a lot I’d like to discuss with him.” The woman replied and Robin nodded eagerly, untying Stiles and grabbing the leash to pull him after them. 

Derek listened to their conversation, listened as the woman discussed the possibility of renting The Kid, that she was having issues with a werewolf pack in her territory and that if they realised she had The Kid hunting them down that they would surrender within moments, and, if they didn’t, The Kid could kill them, it was a win win. Robin just needed to state what he wanted in return. Derek didn’t like it. Even before Robin said what he wanted in return for renting Stiles out. He didn’t like it because they were talking about Stiles like he was some kind of slave. Derek had to get him out of here, had to get them all out of here. 

“So, how did you get him to behave for you? I mean, part of the charm of The Kid was how defiant he was, and, yet, here he is, docile as anything.” 

“Oh, he’s still got a lot of fight in him, haven’t you Kid?” Robin grinned, throwing an arm around Stiles’ shoulder and pulling him close. 

“Yes.” Stiles snarled through gritted teeth. 

“He looks pissed.” The woman smirked, “I assume you’ve got something good over him, because, it’s pretty evident that he’s not yours by choice?” 

“He is mine.” Robin replied, a hint of anger in his voice, “But, perhaps there may be something that persuades him to behave, a father’s love we could say.” The woman looked at Stiles in confusion for a moment before her eyes widened in realisation and her lips twisted upwards in some resemblance of a smile.

“Oh, that’s very good, who knew The Kid had a heart!? I thought he was all business.” 

“He has a heart, one that’s very easy to manipulate if you happen to have the person that matters the most to him, or, the people that matter to him.” 

“That’s very creative.” The woman praised and Robin shrugged.

“It’s gotten me what I wanted.” 

“And where is his father now? I presume you have him locked away somewhere safe?” 

“Of course.” Robin replied, “Anyway, enough about this, you ask what I want in return. I want you to work for me. I’ll lend you The Kid for two days, plenty of time to get rid of that pesky pack, and, in return, you bring me gladiators and you tell everyone how dangerous he is, and, how he is under my control. That if people don’t start to prove themselves to me, I’ll send him to visit them.” Robin smirked.

“That’s an interesting plan.” 

“It’s a fool proof plan.” Robin retorted, “Don’t tell me that there’s any creature out there that hasn’t heard the legend of The Kid? That they don’t tell stories of his ferocity and fearlessness?”

“They do.” The woman admitted. “And it is. A fool proof plan I mean. The only issue I foresee is what happens when something happens to his father. Eventually, his father will die, ill health or an injury of some kind, eventually he will die, and then, well, what happens then? He’ll no longer have any reason to obey you.” 

“Well, his father was turned a few years ago, he’ll be harder to kill than you think, and, believe it or not, his father isn’t the only person that holds a place in his heart, nor is he the only person that I hold captive.” Robin informed her, tightening his grip on Stiles’ shoulder as if to remind him of the fact. 

“I agree to your terms then, Robin. It’ll be a pleasure working with you.” 

“And you Mariann. We’ll have the fights this evening, I’ll be keeping The Kid occupied tomorrow, but, after that, we’ll discuss when you would like to rent him.” 

“That sounds agreeable.” Mariann replied. “Until then, I believe I will make myself comfortable for this evenings events.” She left the seats and moved towards where the fighting ring was nearly finished.

Stiles felt hyped up, he didn’t want to fight, of course he didn’t, not the gladiators anyway, he’d be quite happy to fight Robin, but that wasn’t the case yet, he had to get them all outside first which meant putting on a show. It meant more than just fighting for his life, it meant entertaining them all. He felt sick at the thought of it, but, really, what choice did he have? If he wanted to save his pack he had to do this. 

The sun started to set and Stiles watched from Robin’s side as small fires were lit around the edge of the ring, clearly this would add to the atmosphere because practicality wise it was idiotic, Stiles could easily use those fires as a distraction, could easily spread them to the stands, engulf all the spectators in minutes. But, he wasn’t going to tell Robin that, not when it made his job that much easier. 

The stands were full, Stiles wasn’t sure how word had got around so quickly about this fight, but it seemed that there were easily a hundred people here, he hoped he wasn’t going to have to kill them all, he prayed that when the fighting started the majority of them would realise it wasn’t worth their lives and they’d leave. He stood tense and ready, ignoring the way that every person walked past him, studying him, their fingers trailing over the scars on his chest, lingering on the tattoos at his side, he clenched his fists and stared at a point just behind them, never making eye contact and praying they could smell the rage coming off him. He wasn’t scared, not of them, not of the fights, he was pissed. He’d been here before, he’d survived before. He knew he could do it again. He was just so god damn angry that Robin was holding his pack, that just when Stiles was beginning to believe he could get away from all of this he was right back where he started. 

“If you’ll all take a seat, the fights are about to begin.” Robin announced and Stiles forced himself to relax, to breathe, to brace himself for what was about to happen. He wasn’t allowed knives this time and that made things a hell of a lot harder, but, it didn’t mean his task was impossible. He watched as the gladiators were brought out of the house, each of them chained in place and guarded by hunters, Robin smirking proudly at his accomplishment as the hunters around the ring cheered. A djinn was led into the ring first, he was covered in tattoos and he was eyeing Stiles up like he was prey, Stiles frowned, a djinn could make you hallucinate with a simple touch, and, with no knife, Stiles would have to get up close and personal in an attempt to take him down. 

He saw somebody moving at the treeline and knew it was Derek, waiting to enter the house and rescue the pack, Stiles gave a barely imperceptible shake of his head and prayed Derek saw it, he couldn’t go in yet, there were still way too many hunters in there and he hadn’t seen Marcus at all yet. No, they would only get one shot at this and it wasn’t safe, not yet. Thank god that Derek seemed to have been paying attention as he moved back into the trees, vanishing into the darkness and Stiles let out a sigh of relief. 

“You all know the rules!” Robin shouted to the gladiators in the chains and in the ring, “The only way you get to leave is if you kill The Kid! Then you have your freedom. Kid, it’s your choice as to if you allow your opponent to live and fight another day, or if you’d rather kill them straight out.” Robin explained and Stiles pressed his lips together in a firm line. He didn’t want to kill any of these fighters, but, if it came to it, they’d die and he’d live, that was how it had to be. 

A bell rung at the side of the ring and Stiles barely dodged out of the way as the djinn leaped forward, evidently intent on wrapping a hand around Stiles’ wrist and putting him out of action instantly. Stiles spun, ducking out of the way and nearly stepping into the nearby fire. 

“I don’t want to kill you.” He said quietly, “So when I put you on your ass, stay there, neither of us needs to die tonight.” 

“You do.” The djinn snarled angrily, pouncing again as Stiles ducked out of the way once again, moving to the other side of the ring and buying himself a few seconds time.

“When you go down, stay down, that’s all I’m asking, from all of you.” He repeated, louder this time, hoping the other gladiators would be able to hear him over the roar of the crowd. 

“You dying is all that’s standing between me and my freedom, if I get the chance to kill you, I’m taking it.” The djinn replied tensely and Stiles frowned, he knew they’d think that, but, surely, they had to realise that Robin wasn’t going to let them go, regardless of what happened in the ring. 

He dodged another few blows from the djinn, growing in confidence as he realised that the djinn had obviously never had to fight someone who knew what they were doing before. He didn’t want to drag it out any longer than necessary and it didn’t take long to lure the djinn towards the nearest fire. When he swung again Stiles ducked under his outstretched arm, grabbed him tightly by the wrist, slammed a knee into his back and shoved him down towards the fire, holding him a few inches above the flames, his arm twisted behind his back painfully and Stiles’ knee in his back, holding him in place. There was a roar of triumph from the crowd but Stiles blocked it out, focusing on his target, the longer he held on the more likelihood he’d start to hallucinate.

“Give up. Now.” He snarled but the djinn was having none of it, he twisted roughly, attempting to throw Stiles off him, Stiles felt the effects of his poison beginning to start, the way his vision blurred slightly at the edges, how the noise of the crowd seemed almost overwhelming but at the same time he could hear every single beat of his heart. He let go of the djinn’s arm, using the force of his knee to force him towards the flame.

“No! Stop!” The djinn screamed and Stiles relented, removing his knee and standing up straight, looking around at the crowd, expecting Robin to announce his victory and move on to the next fight. 

Instead the djinn climbed back to his feet and clenched his fists, charging straight at Stiles with a snarl on his lips. Stiles spun on his heel, roundhouse kicking the djinn in the face, he went down hard and fell silent and Stiles glared at Robin until, after a moment of shocked silence, the crowd erupted into applause. 

Stiles still felt the effects of the poison as the djinn was dragged unconscious from the ring and Robin stood next to him, holding their entwined hands in the air like Stiles had just won some championship boxing fight, he would have rolled his eyes but he was too busy trying to slow the beating of his heart, right now it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest any second and the more time that passed the worst the effects felt. He focused on the thought of his father, that his dad was relying on him and Stiles needed to focus in order to make sure he got out of there. He had to draw the hunters here, he had to make this entertaining. 

“I thought this was supposed to be a challenge?” He said to Robin, loud enough that several of the crowd overheard and Robin stiffened next to him before he turned to Stiles and grinned evilly. 

“You heard him ladies and gentlemen! The Kid wants more of a challenge!” Robin announced, beckoning a few of the hunter’s forwards and whispering in their ears before they returned to the gladiators and dragged three of them forwards. “Should we give him a weapon?” Robin shouted and the crowd cheered, Stiles rolled his eyes when Robin handed him a butter knife, seriously? Stiles could probably do more damage with his bare hands, but, still, any weapon was better than no weapon.

He studied his opponents, two werewolves and a wendigo. He could do this, he just had to be light on his feet and think fast. He saw a few more stragglers coming out from the house and smirked, it seemed like his plan was working. 

“Come on then!” He shouted, his gaze going to the woods for just a second before it returned to his opponents, he saw someone moving out of the treeline towards the house, their head lowered, a hat covering their head, he grinned, Derek was going to get the pack. 

He wanted this fight to last, he wanted everyone gathered around, away from the house, increase Derek’s chances of success. Except he’d underestimated their skill, he only just managed to avoid a set of claws that would have gutted him and, in order to avoid the wendigo biting his head clean off he had to put it down, hard and fast. He didn’t avoid the claws that raked down his arm, although they should have been across his chest, and the crowd went wild when his blood spilled. He flipped the werewolf that came running at him, slamming the butter knife into the second wolf’s collarbone, doing enough damage to incapacitate him for a while but not kill him.

The wendigo was back on her feet and Stiles was trapped between the remaining werewolf and the wendigo, the wolf charged first, he spun him, sending him sailing into the wendigo and they both went crashing to the floor, the hit making them both weaker then he’d planned, it was obvious this fight was done. 

Stiles could see some of the hunters closer to the house beginning to drift back towards the door and he panicked, it wasn’t long enough, Derek hadn’t had enough time. 

“I thought you said this was going to be a challenge!” Stiles taunted, “Marcus!? Are you ready to fight now!? You think you can take me down? You think anyone can? I’m the best there is! I’m a legend! I’m the thing that you worry is hiding under your bed. You want to fight me!? Bring it on!” He screamed, needing to keep the crowd’s focus on him. 

Marcus sauntered into view, looking calm and collected and Stiles grinned ferally. 

“Come on big guy, you want a fight, let’s fight.” He sneered and Marcus smiled. 

“Of course, although, it wouldn’t be a challenge if we didn’t throw some extras in the works.” Marcus replied and Stiles tensed when he saw a second djinn and another werewolf move forwards with Marcus, “You see, they are quite happy to kill you, regardless of it they get their freedom or not, they just want to be the one that takes down The Kid, seems so you’re a legend and all.” Marcus taunted and Stiles nodded.

“If you’re so sure that you can’t beat me singlehandedly then sure, let’s do this.” Stiles answered, grabbing the butter knife from the floor and clenching it in his good hand, steadying himself for the fight that was coming. 

Derek walked through the house without meeting another soul and he was glad Stiles had told him to wait until he’d drawn them out, the less people in his path the more chance they had of pulling this off. He kept his eyes down as he walked into the kitchen, muttering the code under his breath as he typed it in and the door slid open. 

He exhaled slowly, trying to stay calm as he heard Stiles shouting outside, obviously trying to keep the crowd’s attention. Derek didn’t know how much longer he had. He walked down the stairs as calmly as he could manage, hoping he didn’t draw any further attention to himself, the main room came into view and Derek let out a sigh of relief when there were only two guards and both of them were staring at the screen that was showing the fight, oblivious to everything else going on around them. 

“That djinn’s got a fucking good grip of him, it’s over now!” One guard said, knocking the other one in the side with his elbow.

“Whatever, I’m still betting on The Kid. He’s already taken down one djinn tonight, one more won’t be an issue.” 

“That was when he was fighting just a djinn. You’ve seen those wolves, they’re out for blood.” The first replied and Derek snarled.

“They aren’t the only ones.” He growled, his eyes flickering to red when they turned around to face him, stunned expressions on their faces. He didn’t feel bad about killing them, it was a necessity in order to get to his pack. He took a quick look at the screen, freezing for a moment when he saw Marcus was there with Stiles, he thought he was dead. Stiles was hurt, that much was obvious, he was clutching tightly to a small knife but his hands were covered in blood, most of it seeming to stem from a long set of claw marks own his arm. He was only just dancing out of reach of the wolves and Derek wasn’t sure how much longer Stiles was going to last. 

He tore his gaze away, knowing they only had one shot at this, Stiles had told him to save the pack, that he had to do that, no matter what, Derek had to rescue them, then he could go help Stiles. He grabbed the keys off the hook, exactly where Stiles said they’d be and headed into the cells. 

“Derek!” The pack all called out in surprise but Derek hushed them quickly, he didn’t know how long they had. He went to Danny’s cell first, unlocking the door and coming into minimum contact with the wolfsbane. 

“Open the rest of them. Quickly.” Derek ordered and Danny complied, rushing forward to open the next cell. 

“Not that I’m not really fucking glad to see you, but, how the hell are you alive?” Peter said, clapping Derek on the shoulder and pulling him into a hug.

“I’m not sure. We’ll talk to Stiles about it later, but, right now, we need to hurry up and get out of here.” Derek replied, reaching out and touching the other members of his pack, reassuring them that he was alive, that he was okay. 

They rushed out of the room and Derek risked another glance at the screen. Stiles was in serious trouble, it was obvious the djinn had done something to him, his hits were missing his targets by miles and he was swatting at things that nobody else seemed to be able to see while Marcus seemed to be taunting him, getting through his defences and landing solid blows on a regular basis. 

Scott rushed up the stairs and Derek wanted to tell him to wait but the rest of the pack were hot on his heels and Derek needed to get to Stiles. Scott ran out of the house, not caring who saw him or who was in his way, all he could see was Stiles, he was in trouble, he was in pain and he was going to lose this fight, lose his life. Scott saw the other wolf raise his claws, evidently going for Stiles’ unprotected back of his neck while he fended off Marcus and Scott let out a howl of denial.

“Stiles!” He screamed, launching himself forward, shoving Stiles out of the way just in time, feeling the claws tear through his own neck and he let out a hollow grunt as he fell to the floor. He could hear the others screaming his name as the ring erupted into chaos. 

“Scott!” Stiles grabbed hold of him, lifting his upper body up off the floor and pressing a hand over the wound, obviously attempting to slow the bleeding, Scott knew it wasn’t going to work, everything was already starting to fade to darkness around him. “Scott, just hang on buddy, hang on, it’s fine, it’s fine. This isn’t real. You’re hallucinating. This isn’t real.” Stiles muttered to himself and Scott reached up, wiping the tear marks on his best friend’s face.

“It’s okay Stiles. It’s okay.” He reassured him and Stiles sobbed harder.

“No. No. I can’t. I can’t lose you.” Stiles sobbed clenching tightly to Scott before he froze. “Scott, if this is real, I need you, I need you to break the padlock, I need you to break it right now.” Stiles commanded. 

Scott was confused, everything felt too loud in his ears, he could hear the growls from the pack and shouts and orders from the hunters, it was obvious a huge battle was raging around them but Scott only had eyes for Stiles, if he was going to die, and he was pretty sure he was, he was glad that he’d managed to save Stiles first, at least it was an attempt to make up for just how badly he’d let him down before. He’d come this time. He’d saved him. 

“Please Scott. Break the padlock.” Stiles repeated and Scott complied, using whatever remained of his strength to snap the padlock in his hand. Stiles let out a sob, slicing through the collar as quickly as he could with the small knife in his hand as he ordered Scott to hold on. Scott nodded and decided he’d close his eyes, just for a moment, just to rest for a moment. 

He heard the howls of his pack around him and he let out a relieved sigh, Stiles would be okay, they all would be, it would all be okay, he could hear his mother’s voice, she was shouting him, shouting for him, Scott wasn’t sure and he couldn’t be bothered to open his eyes to see her. He was tired. He just wanted to rest.

“Scott McCall you do not get to leave me!” Stiles screamed right next to his ear and Scott felt like something was burning him, like something white hot was pressed right next to him. He opened his eyes and squeezed them shut again instantly, Stiles was there and his skin was glowing so brightly that he lit up the whole clearing with the brightness of it. Scott felt a sudden surge of energy go through him, like he could do anything he wanted, he’d felt it once before, when Stiles had lost control of his magic, but this, well, this was so much more than that, it was, it was almost overwhelming. 

Scott shifted without meaning to but he was unable to stop the shift, his wolf was howling and he needed to move, he glanced around, seeing the rest of the pack in a similar state, they had all doubled in size since the last time this had happened, they were all easily the size of polar bears, all of them snarling and growling at the hunters around them. Scott looked at Stiles who was staring at him with wide eyes, before a dribble of blood ran from his mouth and he collapsed to the ground. 

Scott let out a whine, moving to Stiles and listening to the thrumming of his heart, he was alive, just unconscious, Marcus took a step forwards and Scott stood over Stiles protectively, he wasn’t going to let anyone anywhere near Stiles. He snarled, baring his teeth and Marcus stank of fear, Scott grinned ferally and launched himself forwards, snapping his teeth and missing Marcus by the barest of distances. 

Kira and Melissa ran forwards, taking Scott’s place in protecting the unconscious Stiles while the rest of the pack fought against the crowds, thankfully a lot of them seemed to realise that it was a bad idea to be here and had started to run for their cars, but there were others, those that had decided to stay and fight, that were armed and dangerous and fighting against the wolf pack with everything they had. 

Derek felt like he was invincible and he was also enraged. These people had hurt his pack, threatened Stiles, hurt Scott, no, they needed to die. The wolf who had nearly decapitated Scott had been the first to die, he’d seen Stiles cradling Scott in his arms and he’d wanted to go to him, wanted to hold him, wanted to be there with Scott and take whatever pain he could, help however he could, but, the hunters were already going on the attack and Derek needed to protect them, needed to get his pack out of here alive, so, he turned his back on Scott and Stiles and threw himself into the fray. He didn’t know what was happening when the whole clearing seemed to light up and when he turned he could see Stiles glowing so brightly it hurt to look at him, the power coming from him made Derek groan with pleasure, the scent of it causing him to get hard and then, suddenly, he’d felt that same power coursing through him, through the entire pack, the wolves practically quadrupling in size and Scott shifting into his wolf, any sign of his previous injury completely gone. 

Derek saw Stiles collapse and he had to focus on the sound of his steady heartbeat to know he was alive, know that Stiles was alive but unconscious. He tore his way through any hunter in his path, making sure none of them would ever come after his pack or Stiles again, constantly listening to Stiles heartbeat, to remind himself that Stiles was alive, even if he was hurt. 

Robin stepped into his path, a gun pointed squarely at Derek’s head, Derek didn’t even miss a step, he charged Robin, knocking the gun from his hand and pinning him to the ground, his vision red even as he shifted back to human. 

“We can talk about this…” Robin began and Derek snarled.

“Yes, let’s talk about you kidnapping my pack and abusing my mate.” Derek growled, “I’d planned on this being slow, making it drawn out and painful for you, make you beg for death, because you don’t deserve the mercy of a quick kill. Then I thought I’d let Stiles make the decision, let Stiles decide how he wanted to kill you.” Robin risked a quick glance across to Stiles and Derek snapped his teeth, “But then I realised, you don’t have the right to be anywhere near him, I never want him to have to see you again, to ever think of you again.”

“I don’t…” Robin stuttered. 

“You kidnapped him and tortured him. You let him believe we had left him. You abused him. You made him fight to the death. It’s your turn to die.” Derek hissed angrily, his wolf already overtaking him as Robin let out a plea for his life and Derek snapped his teeth across his throat, severing his head from his body and killing him in a moment, it was too merciful in Derek’s opinion, but, there were other threats and his pack were in danger and he wasn’t going to allow Robin to get away.

He wasn’t sure how long it was before the hunters realised that they were fighting a losing battle and those that weren’t dead turned and fled, Derek turned to survey his pack, there were a few injuries that were already healing, nothing serious and Derek thanked his lucky stars for that. He moved forwards, brushing against Scott who was stood over a dead Marcus and reassuring himself that the young man had indeed healed from his early injury. Noah shifted back to human and held tight to Stiles, needing the sound of his heartbeat to anchor himself, checking over Stiles’ injuries and whimpering when he found more than they’d originally thought, there was the claw marks down his arms, but there was what looked like a stab wound at his hip, Melissa said there was definitely broken ribs and that his arm might be broken too, his back showed marks of where Robin had whipped him and Derek knew he’d have more bruises under his clothes. He was covered in blood and he stank of djinn magic, and, beneath that, Stiles smelt of other people, of hunters, or Marcus, of Robin, and Derek really didn’t like that, he wanted to wrap himself around Stiles and hold him until he only smelled of Derek.

Eventually the rest of the pack began to shift back to human, all of them looking around suspiciously as if still waiting for another attack, Rachel was the first to move forward, ignoring Derek’s warning growl to press a hand against Stiles’ forehead. 

“He’s over exerted himself magically, but, the fact he didn’t blow himself up is pretty astounding, I mean, he stinks of billing’s root. Any magic he used should had gone catastrophically astray, and yet, somehow, he managed to heal his pack member and make you all strong enough to defeat the hunters.” 

“So he’ll be okay?” Noah asked with worry.

“I don’t know about his injuries, I’ll leave that to your nurse friend here, but, magically, he should be fine. So long as he stops using billing’s root and starts training properly.” Rachel surmised. “I’ll return back to Beacon Hills with you and discuss the matter with him.” She said and Derek wanted to thank her but he didn’t know her well enough to know how she was going to react. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Cora said, pulling him into a tight hug and Derek hugged her back just as tightly. 

“Yeah, I think we have Stiles to thank for that.” Derek muttered.

“We have him to thank for a lot of things.” Cora whispered in reply, “Not to mention, your mate huh?” 

“What?” Derek spluttered in surprise.

“Oh please, we all heard you say it, when you killed Robin. Stiles is your mate. When were you going to tell us about that?” 

“Now’s not the best time to talk about it.” Derek said quickly, looking around before moving to pick Stiles up, “Let’s get the hell out of here before anyone decides to come back.” He ordered, scooping Stiles into his arms and carrying him towards the nearest van, several members of the pack climbing in after him while the rest split up into two other vehicles. 

Melissa patched Stiles up as best as she could with the supplies they had, she wasn’t happy about him being moved while he was obviously in such a weak condition, but, she was equally glad to get the hell away from that place. She shivered at the thought of what Stiles had gone through, of what he’d had to survive both times that he had been in that house, no child, no, scratch that, nobody, not a singular person, should ever have had to go through what Stiles had been through, she just wanted to hold him, tell him it was all going to be okay. 

Stiles still hadn’t awoken by the time they arrived home, even though it was nearly a full day’s drive away, Derek didn’t like it and he knew the rest of the wolves were just as anxious as he was, he carried Stiles into the house and up to the bathroom, cleaning the blood off him as best he could before Melissa rebandaged the wounds and Derek carried him into his own bedroom, not surprised to find the rest of the pack already there, waiting in the bed. He couldn’t deny them this puppy pile, maybe he wanted to smother Stiles in his own scent, but, he knew the others had been just as worried, just as scared, and Stiles, well, Stiles had done things he hadn’t wanted to in an attempt to protect them, they wanted to protect him from ever having to go through that again. They all needed this. Derek settled into the bed, holding Stiles against him and allowing the rest of the pack to clamber in around them, Noah growling at everyone until he managed to get to the other side of Stiles, Derek grinning at him fondly when Noah only had eyes for Stiles, it was obvious to all of them just how important Stiles was to Noah, how badly he wanted to protect his son from everything that might mean him harm. They all felt the same way.

Stiles woke up surrounded by heat, he was so hot that he felt a little sick, he opened his eyes and slammed them shut again when he saw the blood that was splattered around the room, body parts scattered about like they were an afterthought, his heart was beating loudly in his ears and his breath was coming in desperate pants.

“Stiles? Stiles are you okay?” Derek’s voice came from right next to him but Stiles didn’t dare to open his eyes again for fear of what he would see. 

“Where are we?” Stiles whispered, his voice cracking with disuse.

“We’re at home Stiles, it’s okay, you’re safe.” His dad’s voice came from the other side of him and Stiles nodded yet he still didn’t open his eyes. 

“Safe as in there aren’t body parts scattered all over the room?” Stiles asked and he heard more shocked gasps, felt movement around him meaning he wasn’t in the bed with just his dad and Derek, no doubt the whole pack were here. 

“No Stiles. No body parts.” Isaac said and Stiles nodded.

“Guess the djinn’s crap hasn’t worn off just yet then.” He said, aiming to make his voice sound light and jokey and instead it just coming out as pained. He blinked open his eyes again, flinching as he took in the sight of the blood, of the bodies, of the pack all staring at him like he’d lost his mind. 

“What about now? Are you still seeing that?” Derek asked sounding worried and Stiles shrugged.

“It’s fine.” He said, sitting up and wincing at the pain in his side, his hip and his arm, his back, his ass, god he ached everywhere. He couldn’t remember much of what happened during the fight with Marcus, not after the djinn got a good hold of him. Everything after that was blurred, he couldn’t figure out what was real and what wasn’t, he thought he remembered clutching tightly to Scott, that he was bleeding, like he was dying, but, the memory had such a dreamlike quality to it he didn’t know if it was real or not. He opened his eyes again and flinched backwards, smacking into the headboard, the pack were all staring at him with dead eyes, parts of their bodies missing, throats torn out, covered in blood. 

“Stiles?” Lydia queried, reaching out a hand towards him, blood bubbling out of her mouth as she spoke, her hand covered in blood. He pulled away from her, pushing past Derek who was trying to grab him with clawed fingers, falling out of the bed and slipping in the blood that covered the floor.

“Stiles! It’s okay. It’s not real.” His dad’s voice said but Stiles couldn’t bear to look at him, couldn’t look at any of them. He scrunched his eyes closed as his father’s voice spoke again, “What the hell are you doing? Cowering in the corner like a pathetic child! I shouldn’t be surprised. You are pathetic. You’re nothing. You’ve been nothing but a burden since you walked back into our lives. It would have been better if you’d stayed dead.” 

“I’m sorry.” Stiles gasped, clenching his fists, digging his nails into his palms and doing his best to breathe as his body trembled with fear. 

“You’re sorry!? You think that’s good enough!?” Derek spat angrily, “You could have fucking killed me! You could have killed their Alpha! You think sorry will ever be good enough? You think any of us want you here!?” 

“No. No.” Stiles muttered, pressing against the wall at his back and trying to keep himself grounded in reality. 

“Stiles!? Stiles, what’s going on? What’s happening?” Scott sounded panicked and Stiles felt something touch his arm, he flinched from the touch but whoever it was tightened their grip and Stiles winced.

“Stiles! What is happening!?” Derek sounded equally worried and Stiles opened his eyes slowly, the pack were all staring at him, some of them still on the bed but his dad, Derek, Scott, Lydia and Erica were all moving towards him. Stiles stared past them, stared at Robin and Marcus who were both standing on the other side of the room, wide grins on their faces, Marcus’ claws were out and Robin held a sword dripping with blood, they moved forward and Stiles tried to move, tried to stop them, but he couldn’t, he was frozen in place.

“No! Stop!” He screamed, his words trailing off into a scream of denial as he watched the pack slaughtered before his eyes and he stood helplessly by. 

“Stiles it’s not real!” His dad shouted and Stiles wanted to believe him, wanted to believe him so badly but he knew better, he was surrounded by death, he brought destruction, he didn’t deserve any chance at happiness. 

“Why the hell would we want you here? You nearly killed our Alpha, you let Robin use you, you would have let him fuck you, no, you begged him to fuck you, you’re disgusting, you disgust us.” Jackson spat and Stiles nodded in agreement.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” He said, trying to stop the tears that ran down his cheeks, but, god, he didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t, and a small part of him was telling him that the djinn’s magic hadn’t worn off yet, that he just needed to find a corner and curl up and wait for it to pass, but, he could feel hands on him and when he opened his eyes all he saw was blood and death, the pack dead at his feet, the sword in his hand dripping with blood, or Robin and Marcus cutting through them with ease, laughing and joking as Stiles stood frozen in place or Bethany standing above him, blaming him for her death, her hands becoming clawed as she tore into his stomach and he screamed, it hurt so much, he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t focus, just watched in terror and agony as she clawed into his stomach and held his guts out in front of him. 

“It’s your fault Stiles, it’s all your fault, you ruined my life, you ruined all our lives, it would be better if I’d never met you, it would be better if you’d never been born.” Bethany spat, her face twisted up in anger as she tortured Stiles. 

“What the hell is happening to him!? Somebody do something!” Derek sounded terrified and Stiles tried to focus on his voice, tried to believe that this Derek was real, he knew he wasn’t, he knew the real Derek would never forgive him, but, at that moment, when Bethany still had his intestines in her hands, he had to believe that somebody was worried about him. 

“It’s the djinn’s magic.” A voice came from the doorway and Stiles looked up to see the witch from the cells standing there, she was drenched in blood and it looked like somebody had sliced her throat open, Stiles shuffled backwards as far away from her as he could, finally managing to reach a corner, pull his knees up and wrap his hands around them, forcing himself to breathe.

“Went the distance now I’m back on my feet…” He sung quietly to himself, rocking slightly in place as he tried to block everything else out. 

“Rachel what’s happening?” Noah asked, he was beyond terrified, he needed Stiles to be okay and instead his son was rocking in the corner, singing under his breath as the stench of terror and pain rolled off him in waves. 

“The djinn in the second fight got a good hold of him, they cause hallucinations that can last for hours, sometimes days, they take your worst fears and use them against you. It had poured a lot of magic into The Kid before it was taken out, whatever he’s seeing, whatever he’s going through right now, it’ll wear off in time, but, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. It’s more potent right before it leaves the system.” Rachel explained, approaching Stiles carefully.

“His name is Stiles.” Peter snapped and Rachel shrugged.

“Whatever, right now, he’s trapped in his worst nightmares, he won’t have a clue what’s real and what’s not, there’s nothing you can do. The best thing to do is get somewhere quiet and try and block it out, which is, apparently, what he’s trying to do, suggesting he’s come into contact with this poison before.” 

“Poison!?” Allison shrieked and Stiles winced, his singing faltering before he changed songs.

“Hold, hold on, hold on to me, cause I’m a little unsteady…” He mumbled and Rachel waved them into silence before she crouched down next to Stiles. 

“Stiles, it’s okay, it’s the magic from the djinn, it’ll wear off, you’re doing great, just hold on a little longer and this will all be a bad dream.” She muttered, resting her hand against the side of his head before she muttered a short incantation, she closed her eyes for a moment, opening them again, staring around the room in terror before she yanked her hand away from Stiles’ head like she had been burned. “Oh kid, I’m so sorry.” She whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks. 

“What did you do? What was that?” Danny asked and Rachel sighed heavily before standing back to her feet.

“I did a spell, letting me see what it is he’s seeing. It wasn’t good.” She surmised as Stiles let out another choked off scream of pain, his nails digging into his leg as he tried to fight back whatever it was he was seeing.

“Could he see you? Like, see you and know you were real?” Derek asked and Rachel shrugged. 

“I don’t know, and, anyway, even if he could, I know what you’re thinking, and no, I can’t get you inside his head, it doesn’t work that way.” Rachel explained. 

“Well, what do we do then!? We can’t just let him go through this alone!” Isaac said. 

“We are the warriors that built this town…” Stiles hummed, his words cutting off as he gritted his teeth and bit back another scream.

“We have to do something!” Noah shouted in agitation. 

“There’s nothing you can do, you just have to wait it out, it can’t be long now, it always gets worse right before it stops.” 

“So you think it’s nearly over?” Kira asked nervously. 

“I can’t imagine how it could possibly get worse.” Rachel shuddered, just as Stiles let out another pained whimper and Derek smelled blood, rushing over to Stiles and checking him over, his eyes filling with tears when he saw Stiles had bitten his tongue in an attempt to deal with the fear. 

“Stiles, it’s okay, we’re right here, it’s okay, you’re safe, we won’t let anyone hurt you.” Derek said, praying that Stiles could hear and know that they were with him. 

“Argh!” Stiles screamed, his whole body going rigid as he screamed in pain and the pack all winced, all of them reaching out to touch him, offering him whatever comfort they could. “How unfair it’s just our luck, found something real that’s out of touch…” Stiles muttered, his voice cracking as he tried to sing, his eyes scrunching shut and his heart beat going crazy, his fingers digging into his jeans as he tried to block out whatever it was that he was seeing. 

“We’re right here Stiles, we’re right here, we love you, we love you so much son.” Noah sobbed. 

“No, no, please.” Stiles begged, flinching away from the contact, trying to make himself as small as possible. 

“Stiles we’re here. We won’t let anything happen to you.” Scott tried to reassure him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Mom I’m sorry.” Stiles sobbed, his voice shattering, his breath leaving him in huge gasps as everyone stared at him in shock, their eyes going to Noah in panic.

“It wasn’t your fault Stiles, what happened to her was not your fault, it won’t ever be your fault.” Noah pleaded with him, Stiles only screamed in reply, like he was in agony, any attempt to block out the visions had left him now, all he could do was stare with wide eyes at things they couldn’t see as he screamed in pain, his back arching away from the wall and his fingers scrabbling for purchase on his jeans. 

“I’m sorry, please.” Stiles gasped in pain, as if every bit of air he had left he was using to apologize. 

“It’s okay Stiles, it’s nearly over, it’s nearly over Stiles, we’re right here.” Derek tried to reassure him. He was wrong. 

They spent the next five hours watching Stiles scream and writhe in pain, humming songs under his breath as he tried to hold onto reality, all of them glaring at Rachel, expecting her to be able to do something to ease his suffering and she shrugged helplessly each time they looked to her. Eventually, after five hours of pure torture, both for Stiles and the pack as they had to listen to him beg and sob and plead and apologize, Stiles passed out, from pain or exhaustion or what, they didn’t know, but, he passed out and the room fell into silence.


	21. Chapter 21

“This is probably the best thing that could happen.” Rachel whispered, “By the time he wakes up the magic should have left his system.”

“You called it poison before?” Boyd queried.

“Same kind of thing, gets in your brain, messes with you, sometimes the djinn use it to lull you into a false world, where you are happy and everything is perfect and then, well, you don’t even put up a fight, you just lay there and let them suck you dry, but, obviously, that’s not what this one did. It’s, it’s like poison but, magic, and, it will work its way out of his system given enough time, just like poison.” Rachel paused, “He’s strong, stronger than I gave him credit for.”

“We already know that.” Lydia said primly and Rachel rolled her eyes.

“Whatever, I’m hungry, have you got food in or not?” She asked and the pack glared at her. “Yeah, I get it, Stiles is unconscious and you are worried blah, blah, blah, but, he’s not in any danger right now, he can’t hallucinate when he’s unconscious and, really, by the time he wakes up, the magic will have left him, so, can we get some food? Or are you just expecting me to starve to death while you fuss over him?” 

“He’s pack.” Derek growled angrily.

“Yeah, I don’t really get what that means.” Rachel shrugged, “Like, obviously, I’ve come into contact with wolves before, but, it’s not like I got a book on their inner workings, so, excuse me if I don’t know why we can’t get food while he’s asleep.” She said sarcastically. 

“It’s because he’s injured.” Aiden explained, sounding calmer than he felt, “He’s a pack member who has suffered a lot and he’s injured, it’s our instinct to protect him, it feels wrong to leave him when he’s unconscious and can’t defend himself.” 

“Rightttttt.” Rachel rolled her eyes, “And, if some threat came right now, how are you guys going to protect him? I mean, you’re all exhausted, you haven’t eaten in, what, nearly two days? Derek is still recovering from the finding spell and from somehow coming back from the dead,” Derek opened his mouth to speak and Rachel glared at him, “Don’t even attempt to lie to me mister, I can see your aura and I know it’s just as exhausted as you are. Right now, I think the only reason any of you are still going is because Stiles gave you a massive power boost, which, I am dying to ask him about by the way, but, surely, if you want to protect him, you need to look after yourselves too?” She said simply and Derek stared at her. What she was saying did make sense, but, it didn’t mean he had to agree with it.

“Rachel’s right.” Melissa said, standing from the bed, “I’ll go downstairs and make us all something to eat. I’ll bring it back up in a bit.”

“I’ll come with you.” Danny said, clutching Ethan’s hand tightly for a second before he let go and moved towards Melissa, rubbing a hand down her arm. Cora, Kira and Jackson went with them and Derek nodded at them thankfully, not wanting to leave Stiles alone in case he awoke, Rachel rolled her eyes but followed after them. 

Derek wanted to thank her, after all, if it hadn’t been for her, they wouldn’t have found Stiles, and, although that hadn’t exactly ended well, the fact that she had helped them, well, Derek appreciated that. Plus, she’d explained why Stiles’ magic wasn’t responding how it should have done and Derek was going to kill Deaton for that, as soon as Stiles was awake he was going to go to the clinic and order Deaton out of town, and, if he didn’t leave, Derek would happily kill him for attempting to hurt Stiles. 

Melissa and the others reappeared an hour later, bringing plates upon plates of sandwiches and chips and drinks, Derek’s stomach rumbled hungrily and he heard several other stomachs rumble, their owners looking sheepish before they dived on the food. It didn’t take long before the plates were clean and the pack were all sprawled around the room, relaxed, full and tired, Derek looked away from Stiles to see Rachel standing in the corner of the room, she’d obviously finished her food and was climbing to her feet. 

“Are you leaving?” Peter asked in curiosity and Rachel smirked.

“I’m not leaving until I’ve spoken to Stiles, but, I think, I’m going to pay a visit to your resident druid. I want to have a chat with him about a few things. So, can one of you tell me where he is?” Rachel asked. 

“If you can wait until Stiles wakes up then I’ll come with you.” Derek replied and Rachel pursed her lips before finally nodding. 

“Once Stiles wakes up then we’ll all come with you, Stiles included, Deaton needs to pay for this.” Noah snarled and Derek nodded in agreement. 

At some point during the evening they must have all gone back to sleep, Derek was worried that Stiles was still unconscious, but, his heart beat was strong, and, he didn’t want to wake him up in case the magic hadn’t worked its way out of his system yet, he knew he couldn’t handle seeing Stiles like that again, knew he couldn’t stand by and feel so helpless again. It had been bad enough with Robin, letting him touch Stiles, letting him nearly rape him and not being able to do anything about it, but, to stand by while Stiles screamed in pain and fear from something that they couldn’t even see, no, he never wanted to go through that again. 

Stiles woke up suddenly, his heart racing as he peered around the darkened room and made out the forms of the sleeping pack scattered around the room, somehow, miraculously he hadn’t woken them, and, right now, he needed to get out of here, he couldn’t be here, couldn’t hear as they threw him out, as they told him how pathetic he was, how he only brought them pain and destruction, that they didn’t want him here. 

He eased himself out of the bed, somehow getting past both his dad and Melissa without disturbing them, he crept across the floor and inched open the door, he didn’t need anything, forget his knives, forget his swords, forget clothes, he just needed to get out of here. He made his way down the stairs silently, he was almost at the back door when the kitchen light flicked on and Stiles turned, his hand reaching for a knife that wasn’t there, and stared at the witch who had been with the pack. She was sat on the kitchen counter, sipping at a mug of coffee and smiling at him smugly. 

“I did wonder how long before you’d pull a disappearing act.” She said, hopping down off the counter and holding her hand out for him to shake, “I’m Rachel by the way, I know we haven’t exactly been properly introduced yet, you’re Stiles, I know, although, I know you better as The Kid, sorry, but, I’ve heard those stories, I haven’t heard all that much about Stiles.” 

“What do you want?” Stiles hissed quietly, he was worried about the pack waking up and Rachel wasn’t exactly keeping her voice down. 

“I wanted to talk to you, about, well like loads of things actually. I mean, I have so many questions, like, literally hundreds, I wrote them down.” She pulled out a flip pad and Stiles stared at her incredulously. “I get it, I totally do, but, the thing is, you want to leave, I want to talk to you, so, we can do it here, or we can go elsewhere and do it?” 

“Or I could just kill you?” Stiles snapped and Rachel laughed brightly. 

“Oh, please, we both know you aren’t going to do that.” She smiled. 

“Do we?” Stiles queried, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously, moving slightly so he had a direct line of sight with the knife block in case he needed to defend himself. 

“Yes we do.” Rachel said, the lightness dropping from her voice as she studied him seriously, “One, because, if you want to keep this quiet, you’re not going to kill a witch, you’ll get my power and, I hear, that hurts a hell of a lot.” She said and Stiles stilled, looking at her in admiration, he hadn’t thought about that, “And, two,” Rachel said, her voice lighter again, “You saved my life. Robin would have killed me and you saved my life, were willing to let him rape you if that’s what it took, so, I don’t think you’d kill me now just to keep me quiet, so, you want to talk here? Or somewhere else?” 

“I don’t want to talk to you period.” Stiles said, turning his back on her and moving towards the door. 

“Okay!” Rachel sang, her voice increasing in volume, “That’s fine, you don’t want to talk to me, totally fine, but, I’m not letting you run away from this pack when you’ve had djinn magic running around in your mind for a couple of days, it takes a toll on you, you know.”

“I know.” Stiles spat in disgust.

“Of course you do, I knew you’d gone through it before, the way you got in the corner and tried to distract yourself, I knew you’d had to deal with that before.” Rachel said sounding triumphant and Stiles glared at her. 

“I’m leaving now and you aren’t coming with me.” Stiles said firmly but Rachel just smiled. 

“And here I was thinking that you wanted to learn how to control your magic?” She grinned and Stiles felt like stamping his foot in frustration, he didn’t want to talk to her, he didn’t want to be here, he just, he wanted to get away from here, he didn’t want to see the look on the pack’s faces when they told him he wasn’t worth the effort, that all he did was bring danger to their door. Rachel’s smile fell slightly and she looked at Stiles with something like pity, “Stiles,” She started, her voice cut off when there was noise from upstairs and then footsteps, sounding like a hundred people were suddenly running around in a panic, Stiles glared at Rachel because it was her fault he was still here before he wrenched open the back door and started to run. 

Derek woke up in his bed and the first thing he noticed was that Stiles wasn’t there, he detangled himself from the sheets, kicking half the pack awake in the process and threw himself towards the door, yanking it open and ripping it from the hinges, waking up anyone who was still asleep as he chased after Stiles’ scent, he could hear his heart beating in the kitchen but it was racing, it sounded panicked and Derek ran into the kitchen just in time to see the back door slamming shut behind Stiles. 

“Don’t look at me, that was all him.” Rachel said from the other side of the table, Derek didn’t even look at her, too intent on going after Stiles, he hurried after him, running as fast as he could, seeing Stiles dart into the trees and pushing himself faster, he had no idea why Stiles was running away from them but he couldn’t let him do it, he couldn’t lose him.

Stiles could hear the others running after him and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to outrun them all, he was aching from his injuries and he knew he didn’t have the speed to outrun a pack of werewolves, he could turn and fight them, but, really? What was the point? He’d tried to run so he didn’t have to deal with this confrontation, but making them chase him, it was only going to piss them off, and, if he fought against them, why would he? He didn’t want to hurt them? They just seemed to keep getting hurt because of him, he wouldn’t want to cause them any more pain. 

He stopped suddenly, knowing he was beaten and he was going to just have to face his rejection like a man. He hadn’t expected whoever it was that was behind him to be quite so close though because suddenly somebody let out a squeak of surprise and slammed into him, knocking them both to the floor. Stiles twisted around to see which idiot had run into him and Derek was looking down at him shocked, as if equally surprised by the recent turn of events.

“Why did you stop!?” “Why did you knock me over!?” They spoke over each other and then both of them blushed, Derek realising he was still on top of Stiles and climbing off him quickly, stretching out a hand which Stiles ignored, he stood up, brushing the dirt off him just as the rest of the pack tumbled into the small clearing. 

“Stiles! What the hell dude!?” Scott said outraged and Stiles studied the dirt on the ground, it was very interesting, a hell of a lot more interesting than looking up and seeing the disgust in his friend’s features.

“Stiles? Are you okay son?” Noah said, moving forward and gripping Stiles by the shoulders, bending down to try and meet Stiles’ gaze but Stiles refused to look at him, going as far as closing his eyes in order to avoid it, “Is it the djinn’s magic?” Noah asked, “I thought, Rachel said, you’re not still seeing things are you?” Noah sounded worried and the pack all hesitated, as if afraid of Stiles, Stiles hated that, hated that they were scared of him.

“No. I’m, I’m fine.” He said, trying to reassure them. 

“So, why did you run then?” Ethan asked just as the humans crashed into the clearing and were looking around in surprise.

“I just, I didn’t, I know, I know what I did, there’s no, I shouldn’t, I’m sorry.” Stiles rambled, his voice trailing off. 

“What are you talking about?” Allison asked in confusion. 

“Stiles, you were under the djinn’s magic, what you saw, that wasn’t real.” Rachel said helpfully. 

“And you would know that how? You don’t know what I saw.” Stiles glared at her. 

“I was in your head, for a second at least, I know what you saw, what they said, and, I’m telling you, it wasn’t real.” 

“What who said? What we said?” Scott asked sounding pained. “But, we, didn’t say anything bad? Did we?” 

“It doesn’t matter.” Stiles muttered and Rachel tutted. 

“Yes, it does. You heard what you dread hearing, not what they were saying, and, that’s an important difference Stiles. You know what djinn’s do, you have to know it wasn’t true.” 

“What you dread hearing? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Jackson asked, Stiles stared at the ground and refused to say anything. 

“Something along the lines of how it’s his fault the whole pack dies, that he only brings trouble with him, that you wouldn’t want him around, that you don’t want him, that he isn’t good enough, that he doesn’t deserve anything good, that he risked killing Derek to protect his dad, I could go on, but, honestly, those few seconds seeing what he saw was enough to not want to discuss it.” 

“Stiles…” Derek voice cracked with despair, he looked around at the rest of his pack and saw the desperation on their features, each of them looking like they wanted nothing more than to hold Stiles but looking to their Alpha for guidance, Noah’s hands still resting on Stiles’ shoulders, but his eyes were pleading with Derek to do something, to make this right. 

“Stiles.” Derek said, his voice stronger this time, “Stiles, we do not want you to leave, we would never want you to leave. You are pack Stiles, you’re ours. And you could never do anything that would make us want to kick you out Stiles. You saved our lives, we walked into a trap and you got us out, got all of us out, alive. You did that Stiles, not me, not your dad, not any of the rest of the pack, you did. You saved our lives. You are a good person Stiles, a good person who has had to survive through awful things, who has had to do awful things to survive, but, you are still a good person. You gave the gladiators the option to live, you didn’t want to kill them. They made that choice. You have never, ever, done anything that you hadn’t absolutely had to do. And we don’t care Stiles, we don’t care what you had to do to stay alive, all that we care about is that you are alive, we care about you Stiles, I don’t know what else to tell you other than we care about you, we care about what happens to you and we want you here, you are our pack, and we don’t want you to leave. So, please, please don’t leave us. We need you here. You make us better. You make us whole.” 

The pack were all staring at him in astonishment, Stiles’ mouth was hanging open in shock and he looked to be on the verge of tears, Derek took a small step towards him, putting a hand on both Noah’s and Stiles’ shoulders and suddenly Stiles crumpled, he surged forward, wrapping his arms around Noah as tears spilled down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Stiles sobbed and Noah clung to him tightly, pulling Derek into the hug and the rest of the pack following suit, holding desperately onto Stiles as he cried, sounding like his heart was breaking, as if, finally, everything that he’d been through was coming to a head and he needed someone to hold him together. Somehow they ended up all wrapped around Stiles on the floor, every single one of them reaching out to touch Stiles, to reassure him, as he sobbed and begged for forgiveness over and over, all of them muttering that it was okay, that he was okay, that they loved him, that he was safe now, that they wouldn’t let anything happen to him. 

It could have been minutes or hours later, Derek hadn’t exactly been keeping track of time, Stiles swiped a hand across his face, removing the evidence of his tears and muttering another apology as he gave them a shaky smile. 

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for Stiles.” Derek said in what he hoped was his most reassuring voice. 

“Glad that’s all settled.” Rachel said impatiently from where she was stood nearby, “Now that you’ve settled your little angst-ridden crap, are we going to go deal with this druid? Or are you going to give him a chance to run?” 

“Deaton?” Stiles said in confusion, running his hand across his face again, “What’s Deaton got to do with anything?” 

“You mean other than the fact he’s been attempting to get you to blow yourself and probably half this pack up?” Rachel said and Stiles stared at her in shock.

“I don’t understand, what did I miss?”

“When Rachel got here she kept complaining about a smell, billing’s root, your room stank of it.” Peter began.

“You stank of it too.” Rachel said giving him a grin, “Honestly, in those cells, I thought I was going to pass out from the stench of it.”

“Oh. I thought,” Stiles paused then blushed, “Doesn’t matter.”

“No, what did you think?” Rachel pressed gently and Stiles shrugged.

“I figured you were just disgusted by me in general.” 

“Well, we’re all wrong every once in a while, and, disgusted is not the word I would use, I’m curious about you, but, not disgusted.” 

“We’re getting off track.” Peter sighed before turning to Stiles, “Rachel smelled the billing’s root, the fact it’s in your room, all over you, the only thing it could be was the powder that Deaton gave you to help you with control.”

“No. He gave me crushed albahaca, it’s supposed to be to help me relax, for peace and happiness and protection from evil.” Stiles argued.

“Yet from what I’ve been told you at least had some control over your magic before, and then you started used the albahaca and you seemed to have lost all control?” Rachel said and Stiles paused, thinking the situation over before his hands clenched into fists at his side.

“When I asked him why he was willing to help me he said it was because he didn’t want me to blow the town up, didn’t want me to blow the pack up, and yet, he gave me that. I should have known, I should never have trusted him.” Stiles muttered. “I should have known, I shouldn’t have thought he’d be willing to help me.” 

“Stiles, he will pay for this.” Derek growled and Stiles nodded but he didn’t seem convinced. 

“Do the effects wear off? Will I get control of my magic?” Stiles asked Rachel, his voice filled with concern, who nodded.

“Yes, you will, although, it would be better if you learned around a coven, people who could teach you, rather than a pack that don’t really know anything about magic.” Rachel shrugged. 

“Stiles isn’t going anywhere.” Scott said angrily. 

“You say that like she’s trying to steal me away.” Stiles scoffed.

“Well, I can’t say the idea isn’t appealing.” Rachel smirked, “But, no, I’m not trying to steal you Stiles, although, you might find you prefer living with witches around as opposed to wolves?” 

“I’m not leaving my dad.” Stiles said firmly, then glanced around at the others, “Or any of the rest of my pack.” Scott grinned blindingly pulling Stiles into a hug as Jackson rolled his eyes.

“Great, the Sciles bromance is back.” He said but he sounded fond and Stiles and Scott grinned at him. 

“Aww buddy, I didn’t know you cared.” Stiles teased and Jackson let out a laugh filled with affection. Derek found himself staring at Stiles, his eyes were still red rimmed from where he’d been crying and there were tear tracks on his cheeks, he had bruises along the side of his face and bags under his eyes and yet Derek couldn’t help but think how beautiful he was. He loved him, god, he loved him so much, he wanted to tell him, wanted him to know how much Derek cared about him, but, Stiles didn’t need that right now, he needed time to heal, he needed to be with his pack without Derek pressuring him into some kind of relationship. Stiles had been kidnapped, tortured and abused, hell, he’d been nearly raped and been forced to give Robin blowjobs less than 2 days ago, Stiles needed time and Derek wanted to give him that. Give him somewhere safe to recover. 

Eventually they all left the preserve, making their way back to the house where they got cleaned up, Melissa insisted on checking Stiles over once he’d had a shower and somehow they’d all ended up waiting in the living room for him while he had a shower. Stiles came down the stairs looking sheepish, he was wearing a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that clung to his damp body, Derek knew he was staring, knew he was stinking the room out with his arousal if the wrinkled noses were anything to go by and he gritted his teeth and looked away, hoping that if he couldn’t see Stiles then maybe he would be able to not think about him. 

“So, um, I’m, like, I’m officially pack now? Right?” Stiles asked in a quiet voice and Derek stared at him. 

“Yes. Of course you are. You always have been.” Derek said firmly and Stiles nodded. 

“That’s good, because, like, well, something might have happened…”

“What!? What happened?” Derek asked his voice full of panic. 

“Nothing serious, don’t worry, but, I may have, um, my tattoos…” Stiles started, he barely got a chance to finish his sentence before Noah was storming over and pulling Stiles’ shirt up, the pack stared in shock. The injuries were still there, unfortunately they hadn’t healed, but, Stiles tattoos had moved, and, rather than the circles, or even Noah’s wolf, the entire pack were now pacing across his skin, their wolves running and play fighting, howling and yipping, the humans of the pack standing tall and proud, hair and jackets blowing in an invisible breeze, the pack mark, the triskelion was a dark black just above Stiles’ heart and Derek grinned when he saw that, he didn’t ever want that to move. He saw his own wolf prowling along the band of Stiles’ sweats and his arousal spiked, thankfully Stiles pulled his shirt back down before Derek could do something stupid like go over there and run his own fingers across Stiles’ skin, “So, erm, yeah, there’s that.” Stiles said blushing brightly. 

“That is so fucking awesome dude.” Scott said happily, his wolf had been sat next to Kira who had been running a hand through the fur on his head. “Do you think they’ll stay? Or will they fade like the others?” 

“I don’t know.” Stiles answered honestly, looking to Rachel for guidance.

“Don’t look at me, I’ve never seen anything like that before, but, then, you are just full of surprises.” Rachel shrugged and Stiles opened his mouth to reply when Derek’s wolf appeared from the hem of his t-shirt. 

“Dude, no.” Stiles reprimanded poking the wolf gently until it disappeared back under his shirt, but, not before flashing its red eyes at the pack who all laughed loudly, Derek frowning at it and fighting the urge to flash his own eyes at it. 

“I still need to check your injuries.” Melissa said, standing from where she had been say on one of the sofas and Stiles shrugged. 

“Don’t worry about it, they’ve pretty much stopped bleeding now anyway. And, we need to go see Deaton. Maybe he didn’t know what he was giving me.” Stiles said, trying to sound optimistic. 

“There’s no way he didn’t know what he was giving you. You can smell the damage it’s doing to your magic.” Rachel said and they all looked at her.

“You can smell magic?” Stiles queried.

“Of course I can, anyone with magic can, it’s how we find each other.” She shrugged like it was the most simple thing, “Which, you’d learn easily if you came with me when I leave?” 

“Nice try.” Stiles grinned. “I told you, I have my pack, I’m not going anywhere.” 

“Can’t blame a girl for trying.” Rachel smirked before she turned to the door, “So, are we going to see this Deaton fellow or not?” Stiles headed after her, for some reason Rachel seemed trustworthy, okay, yeah, so she was a bit odd and she seemed way too casual about some things and she was maybe a bit flaky, but, she didn’t feel, bad he guessed? She felt, well, she felt like a light, like she wasn’t trying to cause damage.

Deaton was in the clinic when they arrived, he looked from Stiles to the pack before his eyes settled on Rachel and, for the first time, his face lost all colour and he looked truly panicked. 

“I can explain.” He said quickly and Stiles snorted in amusement. 

“You can explain how you provided a member of my pack with billing’s root? Knowing that it wouldn’t help him? Knowing that it increased the chance of him losing control and blowing himself up with magic?” Derek growled, his eyes flashing red and Deaton lost whatever colour he had left. Stiles didn’t need to be a werewolf to know that Deaton’s heart would be racing at this moment. 

“I, he’s a, you brought a warlock onto my territory Derek, what was I supposed to do!?” Deaton accused.

“I brought Stiles! STILES! I brought Stiles home! Not some unknown warlock, just Stiles!” Derek shouted.

“Yes Stiles! Stiles who has more power in his little finger than I could ever hope to have, Stiles who didn’t even start using magic until the week before and had no idea what he was doing. I was trying to eliminate the threat, not just to me, but to you too, if he decided he wanted me dead, wanted you dead, there was nothing any of us could do to stop him.”

“I wouldn’t have killed them.” Stiles said affronted by the accusation.

“Yes, well power can do strange things to people.” Deaton replied, “And, it wasn’t exactly a secret that you disliked Derek and Scott. What if you decided to kill them? Could any of the pack have stopped you?”

“You are right that power can do strange things to people.” Rachel agreed, “I’m curious how much you asked Stiles about his power to draw magic from others, were you hoping if he killed himself with a spell that you’d be able to gain his power?” 

“What!?” The pack all spluttered in shock whereas Stiles just glared at Deaton, unable to believe that the man he had trusted had been planning to let him die, had been planning to get Stiles’ magic for himself in the aftermath. 

“I don’t know what…” Deaton spluttered.

“Save it. I don’t need supernatural hearing to know you’re lying.” Rachel said angrily. “Frankly, I don’t really care what happens to you, but, The Kid, like you said, he’s got more power in his little finger than most of us could dream of, and, even without magic, he could still kick our asses up and down the street without breaking a sweat, so, I’m not stupid enough to get on his bad side.” 

“His name is Stiles!” Erica hissed and Rachel shrugged. 

“Alright, whatever, I’m trying okay? Point being, you can’t trust him because he was going to allow Stiles to blow himself up and then steal his magic, so, what are you going to do about it? Because, personally, I think he shouldn’t be allowed to live.” 

“I’m in agreement with that.” Noah growled, his eyes flashing blue as he held a hand on Stiles’ shoulder. 

“No, no, you can’t.” Deaton whimpered. 

“Can’t?” Derek smirked, baring his teeth, “Oh I can, quite easily.” His eyes glowed red and the rest of the pack followed suit, Deaton looked on the verge of pissing his pants and Stiles could almost feel sorry for him.

“Please, please, I didn’t, I was trying to protect my territory, surely you can understand that?” Deaton pleaded, he was met with low growls and he turned his gaze to Stiles, “Stiles, please, you can’t let them do this, please, you can’t let them kill me. I was trying to protect myself from you.” Stiles stared at him in shock, his fingers steady as he reached for the knife at the pack of his trousers, he pulled it out and stepped towards Deaton who was visibly sweating and backing away in fear.

“I won’t let them kill you because your life belongs to me. You betrayed me. You used me. You put the pack at risk.” 

“So you’ll kill me instead? You’ll kill an unarmed man who is begging for his life?” Deaton whispered and Stiles shook his head slowly.

“No, I won’t. Neither will anybody else.” 

“Stiles!” Allison protested.

“No, I mean it, you won’t die tonight.” Stiles said and Deaton let out a sigh of relief even as the pack protested, “But, you’re going to leave. You’re going to get in your car and drive, you’re not going to come back to Beacon Hills, not ever, if you do, your life is forfeit.”

“You can’t, my life, my business, everything I have is here.” Deaton argued.

“You should have thought about that before you endangered my pack. You have a choice, you can die here tonight, or you can run, run and never look back, because if you do, I will kill you, slowly, painfully, and you won’t even see me coming. Have I made myself clear?” Stiles whispered, his tone dangerous, sounding more like The Kid than ever before and Derek clenched his fists, trying to focus on the pain of his claws digging into his skin rather than the arousal he felt at Stiles protecting his pack. 

Deaton nodded, still looking terrified, staring at the knife in Stiles’ eyes before his eyes darted back up to meet Stiles’ gaze. 

“I could teach you? Properly this time? I could teach you and we could share the territory?” Deaton tried and Stiles let out a dark chuckle. 

“I don’t want to share my territory with you and I wouldn’t allow you to teach me because I. Don’t. Trust. You.” Stiles spat. “Now, go. Before I change my mind and decide killing you would be easier.” 

Deaton moved cautiously, as if afraid that Stiles was going to stab him in the back as soon as he walked past, but, as soon as he was past Stiles he pushed past the wolves, barely looking at them, as he hurried out of the clinic. Derek heard the car start up a moment later, the squeal of tyres as he left the car park and turned left, heading out of town as Stiles had ordered. Derek turned to Stiles who was flicking the knife between his fingers, something Derek had come to associate as a calming technique. 

“Do you think that was a good idea?” Lydia asked and Stiles looked up at her, “He could tell others about you, he could come back, he could try and gain power and attack you when you’re not expecting it.” Stiles went back to playing with his knife, taking a steadying breath before looking up to meet the gaze of the pack. 

“I wasn’t going to kill him in cold blood, I’ve killed before and I’d do it again if necessary, but, I wasn’t going to kill him in cold blood and I wasn’t going to let any of you do that either, you don’t deserve that mark on your souls. He won’t dare come back, not if he has any sense, and, if he does, I’ll be ready for him. As for telling other people, well, plenty of people already know who I am and what I’m capable of, Deaton telling them about it won’t make any difference, they’ll come regardless.” He paused before taking another breath, “Maybe, maybe it would be best for me to leave…”

“No.” Derek snapped, the thought of Stiles going anywhere made his wolf whimper in pain. “Shut up, Stiles. You aren’t going anywhere, we’ve already had this conversation.” Stiles was silent, his mouth open in shock as if he hadn’t expected Derek to reject the idea of him leaving so vehemently, he closed his mouth and a smirk formed on his lips. 

“God, I leave for a few years and within weeks we’re back to ‘shut up Stiles’, here was me thinking your communication skills had improved.” Stiles teased and Derek grinned. 

“I can go back to shoving you around if you’d prefer?” Derek replied.

“I’d love to see you try.” Stiles laughed and Derek gave him a playful shove, breaking whatever tension was left in the room. 

“Well, I’m glad we’ve resolved this.” Rachel said from the doorway, “Stiles, I’m still serious about my offer, if you want to come and train with me...?” 

“I’m okay here, I’ll, um, I’ll figure it out. Deaton had books, I’ll go through them and go from there.” Stiles replied, Scott flinging an arm around his shoulder and pulling him into his side possessively.

“Yeah, Stiles is staying with us.” 

“Fair enough, well, Peter has my number, if there’s something you decide you need to know, or you change your mind, give me a call. I’ll give you a few weeks to settle in and then I’ll call you, I haven’t forgotten the list of questions I have for you.” Rachel said and Stiles nodded, surprised when she turned and exited the clinic. By the time the pack were all outside a few minutes later, Rachel was long gone and Stiles wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“Don’t worry about it.” Peter said when he noticed Stiles looking around for Rachel, “I haven’t known her very long, but, Rachel isn’t good with lots of people, I’m surprised she stuck around as long as she did. She’ll be fine.” 

“Okay.” Stiles replied, surprised by how exhausted he felt as they climbed back into the cars and drove back to the house. 

He was practically asleep by the time they got back to the house, the pack split off into their own rooms and Stiles looked at his bed and the pile of blankets in the corner, he told himself that he was home, that he was safe, that he had to try to begin to get back to normal, so, he spent five minutes stashing his knives and swords within easy reaching distance of the bed, taking off his clothes and throwing on a pair of loose shorts, taking one of the painkillers Melissa had given him earlier and then finally lying down, relaxing into the bed and letting out a little sigh of relief as the pain from his injuries started to fade. 

He was awoken by a knock on the door, once glance outside told him it was still dark and he reached for the nearest knife, holding it ready in his hand when the door opened and Derek was stood there, he looked at Stiles and then at the knife before shaking his head fondly.

“At least you’re sleeping in the bed.” Derek said, his voice sounding rough with lack of sleep. 

“Yeah, because it’s night and people usually sleep at night.” Stiles retorted. 

“Right.” Derek said, still standing in the doorway and Stiles waited patiently for him to speak, he was so much better at waiting patiently nowadays. “Um, I couldn’t.” Derek muttered. 

“Couldn’t what?” Stiles asked in confusion.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Derek clarified, “I was thinking of going for a run instead, I thought if you were awake then I’d see if you wanted to come with, but, obviously, you weren’t, sorry for waking you.” He was backing out of the doorway and Stiles sighed, throwing back the sheets.

“Hang on, I’m coming.” Stiles said and Derek paused, turning to look at him and then stilling, Stiles followed his gaze, saw the wolves still prowling across his bare skin, saw the raised scars from his time in the fighting rings and sighed. “Yeah, I know, it’s not a pretty sight, let me just grab a shirt and we’ll go.” Stiles said, reaching out to grab his dirty shirt and throw it on, slipping a couple of knives into the pockets of his shorts and then moving towards Derek who was still stood in the doorway. “Dude?” He queried and Derek shook his head, blinking quickly as if he had been trapped in his own thoughts. 

“Yeah, right, sorry.” He studied Stiles for a moment, “You want shoes?” He asked when he saw Stiles’ bare feet. 

“Nah, it’s better this way, I can get my footing better.” Stiles said, moving to go past Derek and down the stairs. 

“Are you going to be okay? With, your, um, the injuries?” Derek asked, cursing internally, he’d tossed and turned in his empty bed for hours before he’d had enough and decided to go for a run. He had told himself to just walk past Stiles’ room, just go out and run and exhaust himself so he could sleep, but, he’d found himself knocking regardless, and then Stiles had been in bed, all soft looking and hair stuck up everywhere from sleep and Derek had wanted to go to him, wanted to cuddle up to him in bed and know that he was fine, instead, he’d asked him to go out running and then Stiles had been shirtless and Derek had seen his wolf on Stiles’ skin, nuzzling up near his neck and Derek had felt such an overwhelming surge of love that he just wanted to hug Stiles, to follow his wolf’s actions and press his nose to Stiles’ skin. 

“I’ll be fine dude, just see if you can keep up.” Stiles laughed, darting out of the back door and breaking into a sprint, Derek huffed out a laugh and ran after him, not shifting and instead running side by side with Stiles through the preserve, it felt as good as he’d always dreamed it would, no, it felt better. 

They ran for the better part of two hours before they made it back to the house, both of them sweating and panting for breath but still feeling good, Derek felt good, he felt relaxed enough that he could sleep for a week if he wanted, he turned to say as much to Stiles and froze. Stiles was standing in the moonlight, his eyes closed, his face turned upright as if he was soaking up the moonlight, his arms out at his sides, his t-shirt blowing slightly in the breeze and, honestly, Derek wanted to kiss him, wanted to touch and taste and feel Stiles’ bare skin against his own, instead he did his best to commit the moment to memory, knowing exactly what his next painting was going to be. 

They parted ways and went back to their own bedrooms and Stiles collapsed back into his bed, thoroughly exhausted but feeling good for it, he found that he’d actually loved running with Derek, they’d run together before obviously, before he’d been taken, but, Stiles had barely been able to keep up and there was no way he could go very far, except, now, he felt strong, capable, and running side by side with Derek, it felt pretty awesome, especially now he knew that Derek hadn’t left him to die at the hands of the hunters. 

He awoke abruptly from a nightmare, Robin’s hand around his throat, choking him as Stiles begged him to carry on, a gun pointed at his father’s head in his line of sight, then the dream had changed and it had been Stiles’ hands wrapped around Derek’s throat, Derek begging him to stop, Stiles grinning ferally at him as he continued to choke him to death, the pack in the background, screaming for him to stop. Stiles jerked awake, tears streaming down his face, his heart racing as he told himself it was a dream over and over. A knock sounded on his door and Stiles swiped at his face quickly before Scott opened the door, the grin on his face falling when he saw the state of Stiles.

“Stiles! What happened? Are you okay?” Scott said, hurrying over to the bed and checking Stiles for injuries. Stiles threw his arms around Scott, pulling him into a tight hug and burying his head in his shoulder, “Are you hurt?” 

“No, no, just a nightmare.” Stiles reassured him and Scott relaxed, pulling him tighter into the hug and holding him. 

“It’s okay buddy, I’m here, it’s okay.” Scott said, rubbing a hand soothingly up and down Stiles’ back, glancing at the door where most of the pack had gathered before they rushed forward, all of them crowding around Stiles on the bed and offering him the same reassurances. Stiles let out a small snort of embarrassment, obviously feeling stupid for causing such distress from such a stupid nightmare. 

“What was it about?” Noah asked quietly and Stiles swiped at his eyes again. 

“Nothing important.” Stiles muttered. 

“It’ll always be important to us Stiles, was it… was it Robin?” Noah asked uncertainly and Stiles tensed, his reaction leading them all to the obvious conclusion, “He’s dead Stiles, Marcus too, they’re both dead, they can’t hurt you anymore, you’re safe here, we won’t let anyone hurt you. He’s dead.” 

“I know. I know that.” Stiles sobbed, “But, he was, he was making me, and, god, it just felt so real.” 

“Making you…” Scott whispered sounding horror-struck, “Was he…was it to do with…sex?” Scott squeaked out and Stiles huffed out a laugh. 

“No, nope, not that.” Stiles said sounding bitter. 

“But, what else?” Scott asked and Stiles glanced up at Derek who frowned, “Oh. Oh, right. You had no choice Stiles, we know that, Derek knows that, and, hey, he survived, you survived, we all survived.” 

“Pure luck.” Stiles mumbled. 

“What do you mean?” Cora asked tightly. 

“I mean, I had no idea if it was going to work or not, I’d seen one of the other gladiators do it once, I wasn’t sure it was going to work, it was more likely I was going to kill him.” Stiles informed them. 

“Stiles, if you’d killed me, it still wouldn’t have been your fault, you did what you had to do to protect the pack, any one of us would have done the same, except, if any of us had had to do it, there would have been no chance of any of us surviving.” Derek said seriously, putting as much reassurance in his words as he possibly could, he needed Stiles to believe him on this, he had to believe him.

“But, I could have, I didn’t know if it would…”

“Stiles, listen to me.” Derek growled, his eyes flashing red, “It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. I don’t blame you. Not then, not now. In fact, I’m so grateful to you, I led my pack into a trap and the only reason any of us are still alive is because you sacrificed yourself, you were smart enough and fast enough and you were willing to suffer at the hands of Robin, someone who had tortured you and abused you, just to protect us, I will never blame you Stiles. I will always be grateful to you.” Stiles and the rest of the pack stared at Derek in awe, Stiles blushing slightly at the praise, and Derek smiled fondly at him, glad that Stiles was finally listening to what he was saying. 

“So, um, what did you do? Just because, seriously, his heart stopped and everything, so, how is he not dead?” Isaac asked and Stiles pursed his lips. 

“Well, um, okay, so you have to strangle them, but, you have to get your hands around the back of their neck, and keep equal pressure on the cluster of nerves at the back of the neck as well as the front. So, yeah, it is like strangling them, killing them, then, once you’re sure their heart has stopped you take a knife and stab it through the cluster of nerves. I’m not like, one hundred percent certain on the scientifics of it, I mean, it’s not like I had a chance to research it before and then I never thought I’d have to use it, you know, like, if I was going to kill someone I was going to kill them, not pretend to. So, anyway, like keeping equal pressure on both the front and the back causes some kind of build-up in the nerves and stops the heart, basically mimicking death without actually killing you, and, when you stab through the nerves it releases the pressure and within an hour your body returns to normal, but, there can be all kind of complications, I mean, the biggest is, obviously, it kills you, but, I could miss the nerves and kill you that way, I could paralyze you, your heart might not take it and give out, you know, just, way too many things could go wrong, which is why I told you to stay still, if you’d have fought, there wouldn’t have been any chance.” Stiles rambled. “But, thankfully, somehow, because, obviously, we’re freaking lucky, it worked.” 

“I didn’t wake up until it was already dark, I lost the entire day.” Derek said and Stiles looked at him in surprise. 

“It could have been to do with the spell Rachel cast on you. I mean, you were exhausted. Perhaps because you’d run yourself into the ground, maybe it took longer for your body to recover?” Lydia suggested. 

“Yeah, possibly.” Derek paused, mulling it over, “So, when I didn’t come back within a few hours, did you think it hadn’t worked?” Stiles nodded, his gaze on the bed sheets rather than on Derek and Derek didn’t like that, “Stiles, what were you planning on doing if it hadn’t worked? If it had killed me?” 

“I don’t know.” Stiles said but they all heard his heart beat out at the lie. 

“Stiles,” Noah whispered, sounding tense, “what were you planning to do?” 

“Nothing.” Stiles replied quietly. 

“Nothing?” Scott repeated, “Well, that’s not so bad.” 

“No Scott.” Jackson scowled, “He means he wasn’t going to do anything, he wasn’t going to fight Robin, he was going to do exactly as he was ordered to do, no matter what.” 

“You said that to me too, that the pack had to get out, get to safety, no matter what.” Derek mused, “Robin would have, he would, that morning Stiles, what he did, he would have raped you Stiles, he was, he seconds away from doing it, and you would have, you would have let him to protect the pack.” 

“I didn’t know you’d seen that.” Stiles mumbled embarrassed. 

“Seen what?” Noah asked angrily and Stiles buried his head in his dad’s shoulder.

“It doesn’t matter, it was no big deal.” Stiles mumbled. 

“Don’t dismiss it like that, it was a big deal. Stiles, god, you have no idea how badly I wanted to stop him, I wanted to, so badly, but, I had, I had to think of the pack first, you told me that if I was seen they would all die, I had to, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t stop him, didn’t tear his throat out for touching you.” Derek spat bitterly. 

“Woah there big guy, I could have killed him myself, easily, a thousand times over, but, I needed everyone to be safe, so, like you said, we all got out of there alive, it doesn’t matter what I had to do to get us out, the fact is, we got out, that’s what matters.” Stiles replied. 

“You won’t ever have to do anything like that again.” Noah snarled, “Not ever. I promise.” 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep dad.” Stiles said sadly and Noah flushed angrily, “No, I don’t mean, we can’t know for definite, not really, but, I know you’ll do everything you can, and I will too, but, nothing is ever certain in this life and if something like that happens, well, I don’t want you to blame yourself or think you’ve let me down, because you haven’t, not once, not one of you, not ever.” Scott hugged him even tighter than he had previously and Stiles let out a little chuckle, “Careful Scotty boy, still sort of human over here.” The pack all laughed and whatever tension was in the room left, it was surprising how easy Stiles could put them all at ease when they’d been discussing something so serious only a moment before. 

The pack were all back at school the next day and Derek decided to take advantage of that time, going to his container and starting on his next painting, the one he’d been thinking about since he’d run with Stiles, the image was burned into his mind, Stiles standing in the moonlight, his features peaceful, relaxed, he was truly stunning. He painted him topless, wanting the tattoos on show, wanting people to see the wolves running across his skin, wanted to see his wolf on Stiles’ skin, wanted to mark him as his own. 

When he’d finished he stared at it in wonder, he was pretty sure it was the best painting he had ever done, he looked around at the container, the pictures of Stiles on the wall and he began to think, perhaps there was something he could do that would show Stiles how much he meant to him. He yawned in exhaustion and realised that he had no idea how much time had passed, maybe he should go home and get some sleep first and then he could think through his plan. 

He stepped outside and blinked in the bright sun, raising his hand to shield his eyes as he saw Noah’s car pull up and the man step out. 

“Derek, thought I’d come check up on you.” Noah grinned. 

“How long has it been this time?” He queried, wiping paint from his hands onto his jeans.

“Only two days, but, we were all getting a bit worried, you know, after everything that’s happened in the past week, we’re all a bit on edge.” 

“Sorry, I’ve just finished so I was on my way back.” Derek explained.

“Do you want a lift? You look exhausted?” Noah offered and Derek nodded gratefully, sliding into the seat and resting his eyes as they drove back to the house. 

Derek was half asleep through dinner, although he tried to listen to the conversations around him, he was really listening to Stiles’ steady heartbeat, the gentle thud of it lulling him into sleep at the crowded table. 

“Derek!” Stiles’ voice snapped him out of whatever trance he was in and stopped him from face planting into his plate of food, he jerked backwards, nearly toppling off his chair as he tried to right himself. “Dude, you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, fine.” Derek said, running a hand across his face and turning to look at the pack who were all starting at him, “Alright, maybe I’m a little tired.” He admitted. 

“Not surprising, you’ve been gone two days Derek. According to dad you’ve been working but none of us know what you do, and you look like you haven’t slept in two days after nearly freaking dying at the weekend. Maybe you should take it easy, there’s no need to work yourself into exhaustion just for the sake of it.” Stiles scolded from where he was sat next to Derek. 

“Maybe I enjoy it.” Derek groused and Stiles grinned wickedly, like a shark that had smelled blood in the water. 

“So this job is something you enjoy?” Stiles attempted and Derek rolled his eyes.

“I’m going to bed.” He said simply, stopping any investigation Stiles was trying to attempt before it even began. 

“Aww, dude, you can’t do that. We were just starting to get somewhere!” Stiles pouted and Derek tried not to think about the ways he wanted to get somewhere with Stiles, instead he rolled his eyes in exasperation, giving them all a wide smile before he headed up to his room and collapsed onto his bed. 

When he awoke early the next morning he headed down into the kitchen, surprised to find Stiles just coming in from his run, he grinned when he saw Derek, grabbing himself a bottle of water and making himself comfortable on one of the kitchen stools, Derek walked past him, going instead for a mug of coffee and trying to ignore how fucking good Stiles smelled, ignored the fact that he wanted to lick the bead of sweat that was running down the side of Stiles’ neck. 

“So, you going to tell me more about this mystery job?” Stiles asked and Derek snorted with laughter. 

“Nope.” He said simply, taking a swig of coffee and leaning against the counter watching Stiles with amusement. 

“I’ll figure it out, I always do, you know that, right?” Stiles said and Derek smirked into his coffee.

“I’d like to see you try.” 

“Oh, it’s on.” Stiles replied, tipping the bottle to finish it off and Derek swore he was doing his best not to focus on Stiles’ throat, on the way he swallowed the water, Christ, it was obscene. Stiles jumped up to his feet and moved towards the staircase. “I bet I have it figured out in a week.” 

“No chance.” Derek replied, laughing at the indignant look on Stiles’ face before he turned to the fridge to start making breakfast. 

As soon as everyone left for the day Derek started to make his plans, it would take time, he wanted to make this perfect, he got his phone out and dialled.

“Hey Jody, it’s me, look, I’m hoping for a favour.” Derek began.

Stiles was frustrated that after a month he still hadn’t figured out what Derek did for a living, in all honesty he hadn’t tried that hard, he’d been reading Deaton’s books, practicing control of his magic instead, he was getting better, although there were still moments where he had to burn off excess energy by running until he could barely stand upright. It wasn’t brilliant, he still tended to go for his weapons rather than magic, he guessed he probably always would, he hadn’t had magic to fight with in the arena and so it was only natural that his first instinct would be to reach for his weapons.

Things were, well, not perfect, in the past month they’d had to deal with three separate attacks on Stiles and on the pack, they’d all come out relatively unscathed, Danny had taken down a werewolf with the exact move that Stiles had taught him and Stiles had grinned proudly before he’d finished the job. Stiles kind of hoped that creatures would start to get the message that if they attacked the pack they wouldn’t return home alive, but, unfortunately, he kept getting proved wrong every time somebody or something else attacked. 

It didn’t help that Derek seemed to be gone most of the time, sometimes for three of four days at a time, Stiles was kind of trying to repair the damage to their relationship, because, he had to admit, now that he knew Derek hadn’t left him to die at the hands of the hunters, he was thinking about how much he had enjoyed Derek’s company before all of this mess, he kind of wanted to get back to that. But, Derek obviously had other ideas, considering he seemed to be working like crazy, it was ridiculous, Stiles wanted to know what the hell he did for a living that could keep him away for so long at a time, but, he also wanted to focus on his own life. He would be graduating soon enough, another few months, and, even though his grades weren’t the best in the class, he had come on in leaps and bounds since returning to school, he was so grateful for all the random information he’d researched earlier in his life, and that, somehow, despite the fact he’d been fighting for his life on a daily basis, most of that information was still stored in his brain. 

Stiles spent the evenings after finishing his homework practicing his magic, he’d recently mastered a shield spell which he was really proud of, shielding any member of the pack from attack, there had been cheers of amazement when Jackson charged at Erica and he literally bounced off an invisible shield about a foot in front of her. He was proud of how far he’d come with his magic, but he knew he still had a long way to go, even if it was a lot easier now that Deaton wasn’t around and trying to kill him. If he wasn’t practicing his magic, or out for a run through the preserve, which most of the pack came along for, he was training. He knew realistically at some point he would have to let his guard down, that he couldn’t live the rest of his life in fear of the next attack, but, he also wanted to be prepared and he wanted his pack to be prepared, so, they trained, Stiles pushed them hard, probably harder than Derek when he’d just become Alpha, but, it was only ever for an hour or two, then he’d have an extra hour with his knives while the others headed inside and then he’d go and sit with them, watch some film or talk about school or whatever else had happened that day. It was nice and Stiles was beginning to feel like he could really make this his home again.

It was Friday afternoon, school had let out about an hour ago but Stiles was only just heading to the car park, he’d stayed in the library to read a passage in one of the reference books that wasn’t allowed to be checked out. He hadn’t given much thought to the fact that he was alone, after all, when Scott and Kira had offered to stay with him he’d waved them off, he could handle himself, it wasn’t as if he was the same kid they remembered, he knew how to take down an opponent, he knew when and where to attack, he would be fine, he didn’t need a babysitter. 

What he should have thought about was the fact that Mike Adams had meant it when he threatened that Stiles should watch his back two months before. Which is why when Stiles walked towards his jeep, he found there was a crowd of boys hovering around it, Mike leaning against it casually as if he had all the time in the world to wait for Stiles. Stiles rolled his eyes in exasperation, he was tired and kind of grumpy and he wanted to get home and go for a run and instead he was going to have to deal with this first.

“Finally managed to get you on your own.” Mike grinned, “I never had you down as a coward Stilinski, hanging around all your stupid friends all the time to make sure I could never get at you. Pathetic.” 

“Funny, I thought they were trying to protect you from me.” Stiles replied sarcastically, pushing past a few of the boys in order to dump his bag in the back seat. He could just about see the handles of three of the knives he’d stashed in there but he also knew he wasn’t going to need them in this scenario, he just wanted to make sure that none of these guys had grabbed them.

“And why the hell would they do that? You think I need protecting from you? You’re nothing Stilinski. You’re a freak. You’re pathetic. But a threat? Not a chance in hell.” Mike said heatedly and the seven boys with him nodded vigorously. 

“Maybe I wasn’t before I left.” Stiles replied, allowing his voice to drop so that he sounded dangerous, his eyes hardening in disgust as he turned to glare at Mike, “But a lot has changed since then. So, do yourself a favour and get out of here, run, and don’t speak to me again, otherwise I might not be feeling quite so nice.” 

There were a few nervous giggles from the boys around them as they looked to Mike for guidance, it was obvious they weren’t sure if Stiles was joking or not, Stiles decided to press his advantage, shoving past Mike to get to the driver’s door. He felt a shift in the air behind him, something he thought he’d picked up in the arena’s, always being aware of your surroundings, especially the surprise attack from behind. He dodged out of the way just in time to avoid Mike’s fist connecting with the back of his head, but, the movement seemed to spur the boys around them into action and suddenly they all decided to attack.

Stiles landed his own punches, putting them down one-by-one, making sure that although they were out cold there would be no permanent damage, after all, he didn’t want his dad to have to arrest him for ABH. He dodged out of the way of flailing fists, smirking to himself at how bad they were, most of the time he could just sweep their legs out from under them because their footing was so unsure. It was kind of pathetic. 

“You son of a bitch!” Mike screamed and charged at him, face red with anger and humiliation, Stiles rolled his eyes, shifted his stance, and punched Mike square in the nose, he felt it burst under the force of it and Mike collapsed to the ground, clutching his nose, howling in agony and spitting profanities in Stiles’ direction, Stiles was kind of impressed he was still conscious if he was honest, Mike tried to move and he went white with pain a moment before he passed out, Stiles felt kind of bad about that, having your nose broken did kind of suck. He shook off the tension in his shoulders, feeling a little bad about hurting them, but, they started it, he just finished It, he sighed heavily, pulling out his phone and calling his dad.

“Hey dad, are you busy?” 

“Hi son, no, I’m just about to leave the station and head home.” Noah replied, “Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, um, well, I’m at the school, and...”

“Stilinski!” Coach shouted from the doorway and Stiles turned to look at him a little guiltily, Coach was red in the face, obviously from exertion and Stiles was standing in the car park with eight boys on the ground around him. 

“Hey coach!” Stiles tried innocently as Finstock moved towards him, staring at the boys on the ground with something like awe. “Um, I’m just on the phone to my dad...” He tried and Finstock signalled for Stiles to give him the phone. 

“Sheriff Stilinski sir,” Finstock said loudly when Stiles handed the phone over, “Stiles? He’s fine. Absolutely fine, there was a fight...no... no sir...he’s fine...I don’t think...well if you’re sure...yes you should probably call a couple of ambulances...” Stiles winced, “No...oh course not...I understand...yes...I saw the whole thing from my office, but, well, by the time I got out here it was all over.” Finstock was waving his hand in the general direction of the school and Stiles bit his lip nervously, this was not how he wanted his day to go, “Yes sir...of course...I’ll see you shortly.” Finstock hung up the phone and Stiles shuffled from one foot to the other, not sure what he could say, he had beat the crap out of other students after all, damn it, he was supposed to graduate and now he was going to be expelled and he’d let his dad down again, how could he defend his actions here? How was his dad supposed to get him out of this mess? He should have just let them beat him up. 

“Coach...” Stiles began uncertainly, but, just as Finstock turned to look at him, there was a groaning from the ground, one of the boys was beginning to regain consciousness. 

“Jared, can you hear me?” Coach barked, bending down next to him and Jared opened his eyes slowly, blinking blearily at Finstock before nodding and rubbing a hand across his chest. Stiles was going to apologise for that, but, he didn’t see how that would help right now, and then, before he could even open his mouth, Derek’s camaro came screeching into the car park, barely stopping before Derek was throwing himself out from behind the wheel and stalking over to Stiles.

“Are you okay?” Derek asked, resting his hand on Stiles’ arm and looking him over as if examining him for injuries. 

“Fine.” Stiles said tensely, he was going to get kicked out of school all because he beat them up, he should just say that they started it, but, who the hell was going to believe him? He was going to disappoint his dad, and, not just that, he’d disappoint himself, okay, sure, maybe he’d originally gone back to school for his dad’s sake, but, then, he’d wanted to do it for himself, wanted to graduate with the rest of the pack and prove that it didn’t matter what he’d been through, he was still the same Stiles that was capable of graduating high school.

“It’s alright Stiles, it’s okay.” Derek whispered reassuringly, no doubt he was picking up on Stiles’ emotions. 

“How did you know I was here?” Stiles replied and Derek shrugged.

“Your dad called as I was coming back through town.” Derek explained then paused, head cocking slightly to the right as if he was hearing something the others couldn’t, Stiles wasn’t going to joke about it reminding him off a dog, he felt too miserable to joke right now. A minute later his dad’s cruiser pulled into the lot and Noah jumped out, rushing to check that Stiles was okay before he even looked at the damage Stiles had caused.

“You okay son?” Noah asked, pulling Stiles into a tight hug and Stiles smiled fondly into his shoulder, god how he’d missed his dad’s hugs. He burrowed in a little tighter, dreading the moment when Finstock would start shouting and screaming at him, eventually Noah relaxed his grip and Stiles pulled away, knowing he would have to face the consequences of his actions at some point. He turned to face Finstock, bracing himself for his fate, feeling the reassuring squeeze of Derek’s hand on his shoulder. 

“Coach, I’m really sorr…” He began, his words cut off when Finstock glared at him and his face turned an even brighter shade of red than it already was. 

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry, sorry doesn’t even begin to cover this!” Finstock raged and Stiles gritted his teeth, he knew sorry wasn’t good enough, but, what else could he say? Derek and Noah both pressed closer to his sides and Stiles tried to take comfort from that, but, it didn’t change the fact he was going to be expelled. Finstock was pacing angrily across the sidewalk, his gaze going between the bodies on the ground and Stiles with increasing speed. 

“I shouldn’t have…” Stiles began again, feeling that he had to say something to try and make this right. 

“Shouldn’t have what? Shouldn’t have defended yourself against these idiots? Shouldn’t have put them on their asses when they attacked you? Damn right you should have done, they could have caused you serious harm, ganging up on you like that. It’s a good job you knocked them out otherwise I would have had to try.” Finstock ranted and Stiles stared at him in shock, whatever he’d been expecting it wasn’t that.

“What?” He asked in confusion, sure he was misunderstanding what Finstock was saying. “But, I, they, I hurt them.” He whispered and Derek’s hand tightened on his shoulder.

“You defended yourself Stiles. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Derek muttered but Stiles kept his gaze on Finstock. 

“Your friend’s right Stilinski. Hell, you should press charges, they had no right, no right at all, to attack you like that.” Finstock shouted, looking murderous, like he wanted to kick Mike in the face while he was still on the ground, Stiles knew there was a reason he liked the man. 

“He’s right Stiles, if you want to press charges, I don’t have any issues arresting them, coach Finstock already told me that he saw the whole thing, that he saw them attack you. You can press charges if you want.” Noah explained.

“What, when they get out of hospital?” Stiles remarked sarcastically before sighing, “No, no, I’m not pressing charges, I’m not hurt, I’m fine.”

“It’ll take more than a few idiots like that to take you down.” Noah grinned and Stiles knocked their shoulders together.

“Yeah, about that,” Finstock said, clearly uncomfortable, “I had heard, well, I didn’t want to listen to gossip, but, well, I heard that you were, that while you were away, um…”

“You heard that when I was kidnapped I was made to fight for my life as a gladiator in arenas.” Stiles surmised and Finstock nodded quickly, “Well, yeah, that’s true, but, I’m trying my best to move past it and I never would have attacked them unnecessarily.” He added honestly, he didn’t want Finstock to believe he sought out the fight. 

“oh, no, I know that, that much was obvious.” Finstock said.

“So, why does it matter then?” Derek asked sounding annoyed.

“Well, I mean, we’ve got that self-defence thing coming up, you know, you’ve probably seen the posters up around the school, about classes every Tuesday night until the end of term, but, budgets being what they are, I’m supposed to be coaching them, and, well, there’s no chance in hell I could do what you can do, and, seems so you’re not doing lacrosse anymore, which you’ve never really explained why you can’t do that by the way…”

“I don’t do well with contact sports.” Stiles said quietly, “You know, I, um, I forget about, get caught up in the moment…” 

“Alright fair enough, that makes sense, say no more.” Finstock nodded, “But, how would you feel about coaching those sessions? It would be a damn sight better than I could offer them, and, you’d be good at it, so, come on, what do you say?” 

“I, um…” Stiles began uncertainly, pretty sure he was in shock that Finstock was suggesting such a thing, it sounded ridiculous. Derek and Noah both gave him a reassuring touch, letting him know that they would support him no matter what he decided. 

“Come on Stilinski, don’t you want people to know how to defend themselves properly? They won’t get the same level of education from me as they would from you. You could make a difference. A real difference.” 

“Alright.” Stiles said, trying to sound nonchalant even as his whole body tensed.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Noah said quietly and Stiles nodded.

“I know that, but, coach is right, he would be a rubbish teacher compared to me.” Stiles said, trying to lighten the mood, it failed miserably but mainly because Mike decided at that moment to wake up and groan in pain, already cursing Stiles’ name. 

“You son of a bitch, you broke my fucking nose.” Mike cursed, doing his best to stand and stumbling unsteadily. 

“You’re lucky he only broke your nose you moron.” Finstock said heatedly, “If it had been me I would have done a damn sight more. Now, stay still until the ambulance arrives, unless you want to do yourself even more damage.” 

“I want you to charge him with assault!” Mike practically screamed at Noah. 

“I have a witness that saw you attack Stiles, he defended himself. It was eight against one. That is self-defence. No court or jury would ever prosecute him just because he knocked you out in an attempt to protect himself.” Noah replied smugly and Mike glared at him with hatred.

The ambulances arrived not long after that, Stiles watched as the boys were loaded into the vehicles and driven away, he could feel his dad’s arm around his shoulder, supporting him and offering him comfort, but Stiles was still too shocked that he wasn’t somehow expelled to take true comfort from it.


	22. Chapter 22

Figuring out what Derek did for a living took kind of a back seat after that, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to know, he did, he really, really, wanted to know, but he also figured that Derek would tell them all when he was ready to. Besides, Stiles was suddenly even busier than he had been previously, he had his own training to do, then training with the pack, training with magic, homework, school and now, somehow, he had to fit in teaching other people self-defence. At least it was only once a week, he could handle that, he hoped. 

The class was only for students at the school so he was grateful for that, although, according to Lydia as soon as people heard that Stiles was going to be teaching them the sign-up sheet quadrupled in length, from the sounds of things most of the school was going to be there. He wasn’t sure how it was going to go if he was honest, in fact, he was pretty nervous, he was glad the pack had all signed up to be there too, they’d all agreed to help him out if he wanted to do demonstrations and Lydia and Danny had spent most of the weekend discussing things that they thought would be best to start the students off with, considering they were human and didn’t know about supernatural strength. 

Stiles had an hour after school finished and before the class started, he was just going to go back to the house and try and relax but he figured it would be better to go for a run and burn off some of the excess energy, he knew the pack wanted to run with him from the looks they were giving him so they headed to the preserve at the edge of the lacrosse field and Stiles tried not to think about the last time he stood here, the night that Gerard and his goons had taken him from the pitch after he’d just scored the winning goal. He let out a shaky breath as the memory washed over him and felt Scott’s hand on his shoulder a moment later, his gaze on the lacrosse pitch too, Stiles knew that Scott was thinking about the same night and he gave him a quick grin before he pulled his shoes and socks off and moved towards the trees. 

He knew the pack, the humans especially, always thought it was odd that he ran in bare feet, but, Stiles felt that there was just something freeing about it, of course the main reason was that he could make sure he had sure footing at all times, but, feeling the earth under his feet, feeling the leaves cracking or the dirt shifting slightly, it settled him and his magic in a way that nothing else could. 

They ran through the preserve like their lives depended on it, letting out short howls of joy, relief, contentment, the humans echoing their howls as they ran and jumped and slid and leaped, it turned into a giant game of tag and laughter rang through the trees as they tried their best to tackle a different member of the pack who dodged out of their way at the last second. 

Stiles was the only one left to be tagged, he’d managed to outpace the humans easily, the wolves were closing in on him from all sides but he’d jumped up, planting his feet against the bark of a tall tree, swung himself from its lowest branch and landed outside of the circle, a laugh on his lips as he turned and ran again, knowing they were right behind him. He grinned, forcing his body to go faster, leaping over downed trees like they were nothing, jumping from one tree to another, swinging off their branches whenever one of the wolves got too close, it was fun, he was enjoying himself and he felt more relaxed than he had done in a long time. 

He turned his head slightly, looking at Erica who was only a few feet behind him, he grinned at her, already turning back to focus on his path and get out of her way when a heavy body slammed into him from the right side and tackled him to the ground. He grunted slightly at the impact, he shifted his weight as he started to fall, already pulling out one of his knives and landing on top of the person responsible. 

“Caught you.” Derek grinned from underneath him, apparently not bothered by the knife Stiles had pressed to his neck before he’d realised it was Derek, Stiles sheathed the knife instantly and rolled his eyes, pushing himself off Derek’s chest although he was still straddling his hips. 

“I don’t think it counts as catching me when I pinned you.” Stiles grinned as the rest of the pack caught up with them, grinning at them blindingly as Stiles shook his head in fondness.

“That’s sounds like fighting talk to me.” Derek replied smugly from the ground and Stiles felt his stomach flip at how god damn gorgeous Derek looked in that moment, he realised he was still straddling the man’s hips and felt a blush start on his cheeks, he jumped up quickly, offering Derek a hand and pulling him to his feet. 

“Yeah, well, maybe after class.” Stiles said, trying to sound casual, hoping to steady his racing heart, because, Jesus Christ, he could not be attracted to Derek Hale. Not again. This was ridiculous. He was ridiculous. “Anyway, what are you doing here dude? I thought you were off doing whatever you mysteriously do and won’t tell any of us about?” He rambled and Derek shrugged, he managed to look a lot more casual that Stiles about it though and Stiles wanted to punch him for that alone. 

“I heard you guys howling, figured I’d come join you.” He said simply, “Hadn’t you better be getting back if you are going to teach this class of yours?” Derek grinned and Stiles looked at the pack who were all staring at their watches with dawning horror. 

“Stiles! We’ve got ten minutes! We’ve got to go!” Danny said, already turning on his heel and running back the way they’d come, knowing that the others would catch them up. 

“I guess you’re heading back to work then?” Stiles asked, dragging out the moment alone with Derek. 

“Well, yeah, I was thinking so, considering your class is just for students.” Derek teased and Stiles felt another blush on his cheeks. 

“Right, right, yes, that’s, yes.”

“Stiles!” Scott called in exasperation.

“Yep, got to run.” Stiles said, already turning away from Derek and running after the rest of the pack back to school.

He caught up with the rest of the pack just as they reached the treeline and he could already see what looked like hundreds of people waiting there, he swallowed loudly, god, he wasn’t sure he could do this.

“Relax dude, you’ve got this.” Scott reassured him and Stiles nodded tightly, shoving his feet back into his shoes and moving forwards to where the crowds were waiting. A few people noticed him at first and then slowly everyone seemed to turn in his direction, Stiles stopped just in front of the front of the crowd, watching as the pack moved forward and took their places at the front, this was good, he could pretend it was another training session, just, without using any supernatural strength etc. 

“Um, hi, I’m Stiles, and I’m here to teach you how to defend yourselves.” He began nervously, clearing his throat as he met Finstock’s level gaze, the man nodding for Stiles to continue. “Right, yeah, so, let’s just get started, probably the easiest thing to do, so, if someone was attacking you, you have two options, the first one would be to run away, it’s usually the best option, if you are fit and can outrun your attacker then running away is always the best option. Usually, when you’re in the situation you panic and you freeze, and that’s when you can get seriously hurt. So, remain calm, take a few calming breaths, assess your opponent and then see if you think you can out run them. If you can’t then you have to fight them.” Stiles paused, glad that everyone seemed to be following so far. “Alright, because there’s such a large group of you, what I’d like to do is split you into two groups, so everyone on my left for the first half of the class I want you to do running drills with coach, everyone on my right, I’ll teach you a few basic defence techniques. At half time, we’ll swop over. That sound good to everyone?” Stiles asked and everyone nodded although he did hear a few grumbles about how if they wanted to run they could have joined the cross-country team. 

Stiles smiled gratefully at Finstock who started putting together a few running drills before he moved over to the people on his right. 

“Alright, so, I’m going to teach you how to defend yourselves if it’s not an option for you to run away.” Stiles explained, “First off, I want you to get into pairs and I’ll demonstrate a move and then you guys can give it a go.” He said clearly, watching as the sixty or so people split into pairs, thankfully Boyd was left without a partner and Stiles grinned at him gratefully, knowing that Boyd was the best to a demonstration with, it took a lot for him to get rattled so there was no chance of him accidently wolfing out when Stiles pinned him. 

“Guess we’re partners.” Boyd muttered and Stiles grinned. 

“Guess so.” He looked around, “Okay, so, first things first, there’s different ways your opponent can come at you. If they come from behind they’re aiming for the surprise attack, it’s why you should always try to be aware of your surroundings, but, should it be that they do get behind you,” he paused, motioning for Boyd to step forward and wrap an arm around his throat, “you can use their strength against them in a number of ways, we’ll start simple. For the first move I want you to lean your weight back against your attacker, make them think that you are submitting to them, going with what they want, let them take your weight.” Stiles explained, leaning back against Boyd, “They’ll relax a little, see that you aren’t going to put up a fight and they’ll think they’ve got away with it. At this point I want you to widen your stance, plant your feet firmly on the ground and bend forwards.” Stiles demonstrated the move and Boyd flipped easily over his shoulders, landing on the mat in front of them and letting out a huff of air. “From this point you have the advantage, you can run for help or, if your attacker is getting up again already, you can go on the attack. But, I’ll show you that later, first off, I want you all to try the move I’ve just shown you, and, once you’ve done it successfully, swop over so your partner can have a try.”

Before he knew it, an hour had passed by, Stiles couldn’t help but admit he’d actually kind of enjoyed himself and he felt good that he was helping to teach people how to defend themselves, he couldn’t help but think that maybe if he’d known some of this then maybe he’d have been able to defend himself from Gerard and his men when they grabbed him from the pitch that night. He shook the thought from his mind, it was no use dwelling on the past and, really, he’d never stood a chance, he’d been a sixteen-year-old kid who was grabbed in the dark by three highly trained professionals who didn’t give a shit if they killed him or not and was knocked unconscious before he’d even reached the treeline. He would have never been able to get away from them. 

“Dude, that was brilliant!” Scott was grinning widely, clapping a hand on Stiles’ shoulder as the rest of the pack gathered around. 

“God job Stiles.” Jackson muttered and Stiles laughed gently, pulling Jackson into a one-armed hug.

“Not so bad yourself Whittemore.” Stiles teased and danced out of reach as Jackson growled playfully at him. 

“Stiles?” A voice said from outside the circle the pack had created and Stiles turned to look at the person responsible, surprised to find a girl, he vaguely recognised her from one of his classes before he was taken, standing there. 

“Yeah, erm, can I help?” He asked in confusion.

“Sarah.” She clarified with a sheepish grin and Stiles smiled back in reply. 

“Right, Sarah, yes, Sarah Wilkes, we took history together before.” He said, suddenly remembering her properly. 

“Yeah, that’s me.” Sarah smiled, “I, um, well, I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed tonight, you’re a great teacher.” 

“Thanks.” Stiles said, blushing slightly at the praise, Sarah looked nervous, she was glancing between the ground and Stiles’ eyes, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment and Stiles was reminded of Bethany, of the way she’d seemed way too innocent to be caught up in that world and how Stiles had failed her. “So, was there something I could help you with?” He asked in concern, wondering if something was wrong with Sarah, aware of the pack all hovering nearby. 

“Well, I was, it’s stupid really, but, um, wouldyouliketogetcoffeewithme?” She asked and Stiles blinked in confusion, Sarah obviously realised he hadn’t heard what she said and blushed brighter, “I mean, I get it, if you’re busy or whatever, but, would you like to get a coffee with me?” She pressed and Stiles stared at her for a moment before he blushed brightly and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck nervously.

“That’s really nice of you to ask Sarah, but, I, erm, I don’t…” Stiles began awkwardly.

“No problem.” Sarah said quickly, looking more embarrassed than Stiles, “I just thought, you know, it would be worth it, I mean, I figured you’d probably say no, but, on the off chance you said yes, it would have been worth this embarrassment right now.” She rambled and Stiles grinned despite himself. 

“Thanks.” He chuckled in surprise, “I’m really flattered but, I don’t really date or anything.” Stiles explained, not wanting to hurt her feelings. 

“Yeah, I guess spending two years fighting for your life doesn’t really give you that many dating opportunities.” Sarah replied and Stiles let out an honest to god laugh, he hadn’t been expecting her to be so upfront about it, most people either said he’d been a sex slave or pretended it never happened. He liked the refreshing honesty, and Sarah was funny with it too. 

“No, it really doesn’t.” He replied with a smile on his lips, surprised by how much better he felt just by having someone outside the pack talk to him for a few minutes, it made him feel less like the freak that everyone talked about. 

“Stiles, we have homework to do, come on.” Allison sighed impatiently and Stiles rolled his eyes. 

“No rest for the wicked I guess.” Sarah said simply, the blush now fading from her cheeks, “Well, I’ll let you go then, but, you know, if you decide that maybe dating might be a thing you’d like to do, I’d really like to take you out for coffee.” She smiled softly and Stiles nodded at her in shock, surprised by her sudden confidence. 

“Sure, that sounds, um, yeah, if I do, then I’ll let you know.” He replied sounding as astonished as he felt.

“Great.” Sarah grinned widely before she turned on her heel and walked off the pitch, Stiles staring after her in bewilderment, not entirely sure what had just happened. Isaac moved first, wrapping a quick arm around Stiles’ shoulder and pulling him into his side. 

“Women.” Isaac muttered and Stiles nodded, thinking he was definitely in shock as they started to move towards the cars, piling in and heading home. 

Jackson and Ethan spent most of the evening teasing Stiles about his conversation with Sarah while Derek did his best not to glare at them or go and tear Sarah’s throat out. He knew he was being irrational, he knew that Stiles wasn’t interested in her, that he’d turned her down, but, the more he heard about Sarah’s flirting and Stiles’ awkward responses, the more he wanted to pull Stiles into his lap, hold him tight, and snarl at anyone who came close. Noah seemed to sense Derek’s jealously and finally called a stop to all the teasing by clearing his throat and leaning back in his chair, looking at Stiles with amusement.

“Changing the subject away from a potential date with a pretty girl.” Noah began and Stiles glanced at him hopefully, “How do you feel about a weekend away with your old man?” 

“That sounds great.” Stiles grinned, “Where are we going? When?” 

“LA, not for a couple of months yet, but,” Noah glanced nervously at Derek and Derek nodded at him in encouragement, they’d discussed this, they’d planned this, it would be fine, “Well, here.” Noah handed Stiles a leaflet, one that showed a large painting on the front page and the name ‘wolf’ scrawled artistically across the front, “He’s doing a show in two months, apparently they’ll be a lot of new paintings, ones that nobody has seen before, and, well, I know how much you enjoyed seeing the painting before, and, I thought we could go together.” Noah rambled, Stiles’ eyes were fixed on the leaflet in front of him but his grin was the widest Derek had seen since his return.

“That would be, dad, that would be awesome.” Stiles muttered, his voice flooded with emotion. He glanced up across the table, looking at his dad with awe before he turned to look at Derek quickly, “We can take pictures for Laura’s collection if you like? Or, you could come with us, I mean, like, make it a pack outing?” Stiles said, looking to his dad for confirmation that it was okay to invite the others.

“Laura’s collection?” Cora and Peter both asked in surprise and Derek tensed, he’d planned for Noah and Stiles to go together, he’d planned on surprising Stiles when they got there. He hadn’t planned on Stiles inviting him along, inviting all of them along, and, worse, he’d not expected Stiles to remember Laura’s collection of photographs. 

“Yeah, I saw the photos before I was, just, before.” Stiles said, not aware of how Derek’s mind was racing in an attempt to adjust his plan, “She had loads, she must have been a huge fan, and Derek had kept them, so, I figured you’d want to add to the collection for her? I mean, did you not want to? I’m sorry dude, I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Stiles’ voice trailed off, his face filled with dawning horror as Peter and Cora stared at him in amazement. 

“You have photo’s? Is Laura in them? Can we see them?” Cora asked excitedly and Derek gave her a fond smile.

“Yes, I have photos, and, yes, I’d like to continue her collection.” Derek said, not telling the others that he’d been taking photographs of every painting he’d done since Laura died, just because he had wanted to continue her tradition. “Laura, she loved his work, and, she took a lot of pictures, when she, when she died, I kept them, and I’ve still got them, I’ll show both of you later.” He said, knowing he wanted to tell Peter and Cora the truth before the rest of the pack, they deserved to know. “But, yeah, I’d really like to come with you guys, so, we could make it a pack trip, if the rest of you would like to come?” 

“That’s a great idea, I love his work.” Kira said excitedly and Derek smiled as one-by-one the entire pack agreed it would be a great idea to go together. Derek knew his plan would have to change, but it wouldn’t cause that much difficulty he was sure, in fact, he was kind of excited, now that he had a plan in place, he couldn’t wait to tell them all, couldn’t wait to see Stiles when he found out the truth, he hoped that Stiles would still like the paintings once he found out Derek had been the one responsible for painting them. 

They spoke for a little longer, Scott and Jackson sounding more excited about going to LA than anything else, before finally Derek motioned for Peter and Cora to follow him and they went upstairs to the bedroom, Derek making sure to shut the door behind them so that nobody down stairs would hear. He moved to his dresser, pulling out the two envelopes of Laura’s photographs, leaving the other three envelopes of his own works. 

“Before you look at them,” Derek said nervously, handing them over to Peter and Cora, “You should know something.” Cora and Peter both looked at him expectantly. “Well, um, I’m not sure how to tell you guys this, I mean, Cora, you were probably too young to remember, but, I, do you remember that I used to love painting when I was younger?” He asked and Cora paused before nodding slowly whereas Peter’s eyes had gone wide, looking between Derek and the envelope in his hand with sudden realisation. 

“You mean, you, him, you’re wolf!?” Peter said in shock and Cora turned to look at him like he’d lost his mind. 

“What!? No! Don’t be so ridiculous!” She said, already pulling out the photographs from her envelope and looking at them, the first few only showed the paintings but as she flicked through she saw Laura pulling a stupid face at the camera and Derek was clearly in view behind her, he was sat in front of a half painted canvas, several other finished ones dotted around the room behind Laura, Derek had his back to the camera, his face half tilted to the side so they could see his profile, he was concentrating on the painting, his focus intense, like he was in some kind of trance. Cora stared at it in shock, she’d never imagined that Derek would be wolf, she’d never really thought about it in honesty, she sort of remembered Derek painting when they were younger but it had never been anything as intense and beautiful as wolf’s work. 

“You improved.” Peter remarked and Derek let out a sheepish grin. 

“Thanks.” 

“But, when? I mean, how? What? Why didn’t you tell us?” Cora asked sounding pained and Derek looked at her guiltily. 

“It didn’t, it started after the fire.” He admitted. “We were in a motel in town, and, Laura came back with paints and she asked me to paint the pack, that she was worried about not remembering them, so, I did. We didn’t have any money, and the manager well he offered to buy the painting.” Derek said, explaining the whole story to them, how they’d run out of Beacon Hills, how they’d made it to New York a while later, how Laura had found Jody and how they’d decided on the name ‘wolf’ and how Jody had started selling his paintings and how it had just sort of spiralled from there. 

“And you’re telling us this now because…?” Peter asked and Derek blushed slightly.

“Because, you’re my pack and I want you to know the truth.” Derek replied honestly.

“You’ve had years to tell us the truth, why now?” Peter pressed. 

“I don’t know, it just, it feels right to do it now.”

“Because Stiles is back.” Cora said simply.

“Because we’re all together.” Derek said insistently. “This isn’t about Stiles, it isn’t.” He denied, even though both Cora and Peter were smirking, “No, it’s not. I’m serious. It’s not about him. I want you all to know, I want to be completely honest with my pack.” 

“So how are you going to tell him!?” Cora teased and Derek groaned. 

“WAIT! Wait a damn second!” Peter said quickly, “Noah knows, Noah knows what you do, who you are. He’s helped you set this whole thing up. You’re going to tell him at the show. Oh, please, tell me you have a whole plan, tell me you’re going to propose or some equally crazy thing, this will be, this will be the best damn thing I’ve ever seen.” Cora took one look at Derek’s face and cackled, sounding so much like Laura that Derek felt a dull throb of grief in his chest.

“I’m not going to propose.” He whispered and Peter and Cora both laughed louder. “Look, seriously, can you both keep this secret until the show? I don’t want the entire pack to find out before then.” 

“You mean you don’t want Stiles to find out.” Cora laughed and Derek blushed. 

“Please.” He practically pleaded, feeling like an embarrassed teenager again.

“Alright, fine, don’t go get all pathetic about it.” Peter said rolling his eyes, “We’ll both keep quiet about it until you decide it’s okay to tell the rest of the pack.”

“Thank you.” Derek replied, almost collapsing to the bed in relief, “And, you know, you don’t hate me for keeping this from you?” 

“Why on earth would we hate you?” Peter asked in confusion.

“I kept this huge secret from you, last time I had a secret, our family burned to death.”

“Derek this is nowhere near the same thing.” Peter chastised, “The secret isn’t hurting anyone, and, more importantly, none of that was your fault, the fire was never your fault. It was Kate’s. She would have done it with or without you.” 

“I know.” Derek replied solemnly, “I know that, honestly, I do. But sometimes I still blame myself, I can’t help it, I do. But I’ve grown up, matured I guess, and I know that it was Kate’s fault. Anyway, I’m moving past it, growing, it’ll take time, I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over it completely, but, I have improved, I know that.”

“We’ll be here for you every step of the way, all of us will.” Peter said seriously and Cora nodded tightly, pulling him into a hug.

“You’ve got us brother, no matter what, we’ve got your back.” She said and Derek felt the tears rolling down his cheeks as he clung to the last two members of his blood family. 

Derek was glad that everything was falling into place, he’d managed to get Jody to buy back the first painting he’d done of the pack and given to the motel owner years before, apparently it had been hanging in the lobby but as Derek had never signed it, it hadn’t been seen as a ‘wolf’ painting. The man had been more than willing to sell it when Jody offered him five thousand dollars for it, Derek was relieved about that, he’d wanted it back, wanted it to be the centrepiece of his show. 

The pack were all excited, mainly about graduation which was getting closer every day, but, the trip to LA was going to be a great trip to celebrate their graduation as well as the chance to get away from Beacon Hills for a couple of days. 

Derek knew Stiles was running himself into the ground trying to do everything, trying to keep up his own training and train the pack and learn how to use his magic, and somehow still manage school, his homework and the self-defence classes. Derek knew that Stiles wouldn’t give any of it up though, so he was glad Stiles only had a few more weeks until graduation, it would relieve some of the pressure he felt. After the incident with Sarah, Derek made sure he met the pack after each self-defence class, mainly because although Stiles seemed oblivious, he’d developed quite a fan club. Derek did his best not to growl at whoever it was that decided to approach Stiles when they were out, but, he knew he managed to scare a few of them away at the very least.

Most of the time they just headed back to the house, but occasionally they went into town, going to one of the diner’s or coffee shops, taking up several tables as they talked, laughed and joked about whatever had been going on that day. Sometimes Peter, Noah and Melissa would come and meet up with them too and Derek couldn’t help the contentment he felt when he looked around at his gathered pack. 

Somehow he almost always ended up sat next to Stiles in the booth or on the sofa, he wasn’t going to complain, he liked sitting next to Stiles, even if he didn’t get to hold him as close as he would have liked. Sometimes someone else would cram into the booth on the other side of Stiles and he’d have to move over, their shoulders knocking together, almost the entire length of their bodies pressed together as they squished together to make room. Derek really didn’t mind that. 

Today they were in one of the larger coffee shops, the pack had managed to acquire the seats and tables that surrounded the window looking out into the street, Lydia was sat next to Allison and they were both sniggering at something on her phone, Erica grinning wildly at her own and showing it to Kira who stared at it with shocked eyes. Derek was going to ask what was so interesting but he kept getting distracted by the others in the pack, Cora, Aiden, Ethan, Danny and Isaac were discussing one of the classes they shared together, Jackson and Boyd were arm wrestling while Scott cheered them both on, Peter was leaning back in one of the armchairs, his legs resting on the nearest table and looking completely at ease. Noah and Melissa had come in a minute before and taken up seats nearby while Stiles grinned and jumped up from the sofa and moved to the counter at the back of the cafe to order them some drinks. 

Derek’s eyes were still on Stiles, he was talking to the barista about something, his hands moving around as he talked, obviously discussing something he found interesting. Derek couldn’t help the fond smile on his lips as he looked at Stiles, he knew Noah was watching Stiles too, knew half the pack was if he was honest, smiling gently as Stiles talked, he looked happy and relaxed. Derek knew Stiles would never be the same kid that he remembered from before he’d been taken, that he’d always be ready for an attack, that he would always feel most comfortable when he had a knife on him, but, it was nice to see him acting something like his old self, reminding all of them that the Stiles they’d known was still inside the Stiles they knew now, that he was still him, that he would always be Stiles. 

The barista slid the cups of coffee towards Stiles and Derek saw it in slow motion, saw the cups tip and fall towards Stiles, saw Stiles take a step back but not quick enough as the hot coffee splashed all over his shirt. 

“Ow! Hot! Hot!” Stiles said quickly, pulling his wet t-shirt away from his stomach and waving it slightly to cool it down, the barista was blushing bright red in embarrassment and Stiles was giving him a sheepish grin, waving off the apology and wringing out the bottom of his shirt. Derek saw the barista freeze, he was staring at the expanse of Stiles’ stomach that was exposed for a moment, staring at the scars that were on display for the briefest moment. Stiles noticed him staring and his face dropped, pulling his shirt back down and the back of his neck heating up in embarrassment, the barista dropped his gaze, looking equally as embarrassed to be caught staring. Stiles headed back towards the sofas with the assurance that the barista would bring fresh coffees over, Derek saw the barista pull his phone out and start texting something and a moment later Lydia, Allison and Erica cackled loudly. 

“You okay?” Noah asked as Stiles dropped back into the sofa next to him. 

“Yeah, fine.” Stiles said but it was obvious he was embarrassed by what had just happened.

“Do you want to borrow my jacket?” Isaac offered and Stiles shook his head, whatever he was about to say was cut off by another round of laughter from Lydia and the others. 

“Alright, enough, what is going on with you guys?” Jackson asked in exasperation and everyone else went quiet as they looked to Lydia for an explanation, she handed her phone over to Jackson who stared at it for a moment before his features twisted into confusion and then disgust. 

“Mr sexy hands!?” He muttered in bemusement, looking at Lydia who nodded just as Allison and Erica dissolved into another fit of giggles. 

“Mr sexy hands?” Scott asked in confusion as Jackson handed him the phone, Erica passing hers across to a curious Isaac. 

“Are you going to tell the rest of us what that’s supposed to mean?” Peter queried, “Or am I the only that’s still confused?” He added as Scott’s mouth dropped open in shock as he read whatever was on Lydia’s phone.

“That’s so messed up dude.” Scott muttered with distaste. 

“Okay, someone needs to tell the rest of us what is going on.” Cora said impatiently. 

“It’s a group chat.” Lydia said calmly and there was even more confusion among those not in the know.

“A group chat about Mr sexy hands.” Jackson muttered and Allison let out another laugh, Derek rolled his eyes. 

“Right, and, it’s funny because?” Derek asked.

“Because,” Isaac said, clearing his throat and reading the last few texts from the group, “’Omg I was just talking to MSH about his class and I spilled coffee all over him.’ That’s Mr Sexy Hands by the way,” Isaac added, “‘guys, I saw his stomach, it’s beautiful, I want to touch it so badly’.” Isaac read out, grinning when Ethan snatched the phone out of his hands and continued reading.

“’No fair! I wanted to see too, did you get a pic?’, ‘no, it was over too quickly’, ‘alright we need a plan to get MSH to take his shirt off, first one to do it gets a picture, no arguments.’ How the hell are we not in this group chat!?” Ethan asked Danny in annoyance while Allison and Erica laughed again.

“Poor guy.” Stiles muttered, “Sounds like he’s in for a rough time.” Everyone looked at him like he was an idiot, even Scott stared at him like he’d lost his mind. 

“Dude!” Scott said with his mouth hanging open and Stiles looked at him in confusion, his gaze going between Stiles’ eyes and his hands, hoping he’d figure it out without Scott having to actually say it.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Erica shouted excitedly, batting Boyd’s shoulder as she held her phone up in front of her, “’I think MSH is here with Mr scowly gorgeous face. So unfair, how can two people that hot be together, surely the world isn’t that cruel!?’” She read excitedly and Stiles laughed in amusement while Derek frowned and turned to glare at the barista who ducked his head and looked away from them. 

“’Shit, I think they know I’m talking about them.’” Allison read, barely able to finish she was laughing so hard, before she held the phone up in her hand and waved it at the barista, the entire pack turning to stare at him before he fled into the back room. 

“Hang on, what, wait.” Stiles said, finally catching on to what was happening. “I’m Mr sexy hands!?” He asked loudly, drawing the attention of the customers around them, apparently unaware of that as he stared at his hands, “What!? That doesn’t even make sense!”

“Dude, do you need me to tell you are hot?” Scott teased and Stiles blushed brightly.

“I’m not…god…I thought he was staring at my scars.” Stiles said in horror, “Oh god, this is, this is so fucking embarrassing.”

“At least he got distracted by ‘Mr scowly gorgeous face’, who on earth could he mean by that?” Cora teased and Derek glared at her, Stiles blushed a brighter red and folded his arms across his chest in an obvious attempt to hide his hands. 

“Well, he’s an idiot, more of an idiot than I thought. I’m totally going to kick his ass at the next class.” Stiles muttered darkly. 

“Why is he an idiot? Derek is definitely scowling?” Kira asked innocently and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Obviously Derek is scowling, I mean he’s an idiot for thinking we’re here together, I mean, like, we’re all here together, not just Derek and I, anyway, this is a day that I’d love to forget so I think I’m going to go home and crawl into a pit of humiliation now.” Stiles rambled, already getting up and moving towards the door before anyone could interrupt him. He shut the door quickly behind him, giving them a quick grin before turning away towards his jeep, Lydia, Allison, Erica, Cora and several other pack members laughing when a girl walking towards him deliberately tripped and tipped her water over Stiles. Stiles looked down at his ruined shirt, ignored the girl who was apologizing profusely and trying to dab at his shirt uselessly and glared at the pack through the window, he was not amused. He pushed the girl’s hands away from his chest, telling her it was fine before he moved past her and practically ran to his jeep. 

Derek waited until she’d walked into the shop and up the barista at the counter before he got up from his seat and went towards them, allowing a feral grin on his lips, the barista actually gulped nervously when he saw Derek approaching them, shushing the girl into silence as she turned around to see Derek. 

“I don’t appreciate you talking about Stiles like that.” Derek whispered seriously, “I really don’t appreciate it when you upset him.” He felt his wolf nodding in agreement, encouraging him to defend their mate, “So, this little chat you have going about him, it stops, now. If I find out you’ve been doing anything else like this, I’ll hunt you down and gut you, do you understand?” He said pleasantly, loving when both of them paled and looked at him with horror, “I’m sorry, do you think because I’m joking or something? Just because I’m ‘Mr scowly gorgeous face’ doesn’t make the threat any less serious, now, I said, do you understand me?” 

“Yes.” “Yeah.” They both replied in unison. 

“Good. Delete it. Tell your friends to delete it. This is over. And if I hear any more about it, I’ll be coming to see you first.” Derek warned before turning on his heel and heading to the door, the rest of the pack climbing to their feet and following after him.

“You ruin all the fun.” Erica muttered childishly but shut up instantly when Derek flashed his eyes at her, obviously realising that he wasn’t joking about this, he was genuinely pissed off on Stiles’ behalf. 

They were half way up the drive when Derek heard the sound of several heartbeats ahead of him, no doubt at the house, and Stiles’ was there too. He drove a little faster, pulling into the drive with the rest of the pack behind him and observed the scene in front of him as calmly as he could. Stiles was sat on the front steps, he was leaning back against them casually but he held one of his swords in his hands, resting it across his knees, obviously showing them he was ready to attack the second it was necessary. There were six people stood in the driveway, their cars parked behind them, there were four women and two men, they looked nervous but they didn’t seem to radiate anger or hatred or any other strong emotions, other than uncertainty. 

“Stiles?” Derek asked, as the rest of the pack gathered behind him, the intruders were between him and Stiles and he didn’t like it. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles reassured him easily. “We were just having a chat.” 

“About?” Derek queried, although he relaxed slightly when he heard Stiles’ voice. 

“Alpha Hale, we came here to talk to The Kid about a possible job opportunity, we apologise that we did not speak to you first.” The woman said, sounding almost worried about causing offence and Derek tried to relax further, to not intimidate then any further, not until he knew if they were a threat or not. 

“A job opportunity?” Noah asked seriously, taking a step closer to Stiles even if it meant moving closer to the intruders too. 

“They want me to kill some people for them.” Stiles said casually and the woman in charge winced. 

“No, I mean, yes, but, look, can we start this over please?” She pleaded and Derek looked to Stiles who shrugged, evidently not bothered either way by his decision, Derek nodded. “Thank you, Alpha Hale. My name is Molly, these are my companions, Jessica, Faye, Audrey, Malcolm and Charles.” Molly introduced the people she was travelling with and then moved backwards, allowing the pack easy access to Stiles without them being in the way, the pack moved swiftly, surrounding Stiles on the steps, Derek staying in front of them, protecting them until he knew for certain what was going to happen, Stiles just rolled his eyes in exasperation. 

“What are you doing here?” Derek growled. 

“We came to speak to The Kid…” Molly began.

“Stiles.” Aiden amended and Stiles grinned up at him. 

“Right, yes, sorry, Stiles.” Molly blushed, “Well, we’d heard that Stiles was here and we wanted to discuss a business proposition with him.”

“What kind of proposition?” Lydia asked. 

“We are having issues with a vampire, she has teamed up with a djinn and they are running amok in our territory.” 

“What kind of creatures are you?” Jackson asked and Molly looked affronted, Stiles just smirked.

“They’re sprites Jacks, their magic is pretty minimal, they aren’t good at fighting or confrontation, in fact, they’re pretty useless in the ability to defend themselves, more than that, they’re peaceful, don’t want to fight, don’t want to cause harm to anyone.” Stiles explained.

“Say it like it is, why don’t you?” Peter drawled and Stiles shrugged. 

“It takes a lot to offend them.” Stiles replied easily, “You’re not offended, are you Molly? Was I wrong?” 

“No Stiles, you’re not wrong.” Molly answered stiffly.

“I thought sprites were supposed to be about an inch tall and all mischief and whatever…” Danny whispered.

“Not everything you read is true, you should know that by now.” Molly responded and Danny blushed slightly.

“So, you want to, hire Stiles to go kill them for you because you don’t fight yourselves?” Boyd asked.

“We’re a peaceful people, we do not want to kill anyone unnecessarily, but, this vampire and djinn, they are out of control, we want to use Stiles’ skills to remove the threat before anyone else comes to harm.” Molly explained. 

“And by his skills you mean you want him to kill them?” Noah asked and Molly nodded.

“I’m not a mercenary.” Stiles said solemnly, staring at Molly, “I don’t kill for fun or enjoyment and I will not kill for money either.” 

“We’re not asking you to kill them, not outright anyway, we’re hoping that your reputation will be enough to scare them off.” Molly replied.

“I don’t go looking for fights and I’m not about to start now.” Stiles said simply. 

“But we could offer you…” Molly began and Derek growled.

“He said no. That means no. We’d like you to leave our territory now.” Derek said firmly.

“What about the people they’ll kill!?” Charles said heatedly and Stiles stared at him. “What about those people that they murder? You could help them and instead you’re choosing not to! People will die because of you!” Stiles gritted his teeth, looking to be in pain and Derek let out a snarl, taking a step towards Charles who was still staring at Stiles in anger. 

“Fuck you!” Erica growled, “Stiles isn’t the one fucking killing them, the vampire is, and you could do something, but you won’t, instead you’ll come here and try and blame it on him! It’s not his fault that you’re a fucking coward!” 

“Erica!” Stiles admonished but Erica refused to back down and Derek sure as hell didn’t disagree with her. 

“I can see this was a mistake.” Molly said solemnly, “We’ll leave now.” She said, grabbing Charles by the arm and steering him back towards the cars.

“Wait a second.” Stiles called, standing up and letting the short sword rest against his leg.

“Stiles, you can’t seriously be thinking about helping them!?” Scott said in surprise and Stiles shrugged. 

“Why not? I have the ability to help, so, why shouldn’t I?” Stiles replied and Molly turned back to them, a small grin on her lips, Derek growled at her before turning towards his pack.

“Let’s take this inside. We’ll discuss it and then let them know what we’ve decided.” Derek said, practically pushing the pack through the door, as soon as it shut there was a cacophony of voices and Derek held up his hands for silence until one-by-one everyone shut up. 

“I’m going to help them.” Stiles said firmly, glaring at Derek as if daring him to disagree. 

“You want to go into an unknown foreign territory, where there could be another pack or something much worse, to go up against a vampire and a djinn?” Derek snapped, “Do you remember what happened last time you fought a djinn? Or are we the only ones that have to remember listening to you screaming in agony?” 

“That was different.” Stiles said shortly. 

“Different how? You fought and you nearly lost, if Scott hadn’t jumped in when he did you would have died and it nearly killed him too.” Noah interrupted. 

“You think I’ve forgotten that?” Stiles said angrily, “You’ve think I’ve forgotten any of that!? I know what happened. But, this is different. I’ll have my knives, I won’t be exhausted and I won’t be getting close enough to the djinn to let it do any damage.” 

“No. I’m not letting you go.” Noah argued. 

“I’m eighteen. You can’t stop me.” Stiles replied coldly. 

“I’m your father! You live under my roof you follow my rules and I say no running off to go get yourself hurt!” Noah shouted.

“Yeah because I always listened to your rules before.” Stiles scoffed.

“Yeah and maybe if you had ever bothered to listen to me before…” Noah started and then trailed off, his heart racing when he saw Stiles press his lips into a firm line and his eyes harden. 

“Maybe what dad? Maybe I wouldn’t have been kidnapped and tortured and left to die in those arenas? Maybe I wouldn’t have been made to kill people just to survive, just so I could take revenge on everyone who hurt me? Maybe I wouldn’t have been forced to kill people for entertainment? Maybe I wouldn’t have been abused by whoever felt like it that day? You’re right. Maybe if I’d just listened to you before none of it would have happened. But it did. And I’m not the same person I was. I never will be. I’m a murderer. I’m a killer. People hear the name ‘The Kid’ and they know to be scared. And I am so fed up of pretending like I’m fine. I am so fed up of all of you pretending like it’s fine. I’m a murderer. It’s what I do and I’m fucking good at it, don’t pretend like that is okay.” Stiles snapped before he sighed, looking defeated as the rest of the pack stared at him in shock, “I’m going with them. I’ll come back after.” He said quickly before turning on his heel and moving towards the door. Derek went to move after him but he felt a wave of magic cross over him and the door shut with a finality, sealing them off from Stiles. Derek rushed to the door, pounding on it loudly, knowing there was no point in checking the windows or other doors, when Stiles had done this before there had been no way out, although, at that point it was more to make sure the creatures attacking them had had no way in. 

“Stiles!” Derek called desperately, “Stiles! Open this door right now! Open the door! Get your ass back here and open the fucking door!” Derek screamed, bashing his fist into the door in an attempt to break it down, he met an invisible barrier about an inch away from it, not even able to touch the door and snarled in anger. “Don’t do this! Don’t leave! Come back here!” Derek shouted but there was no reply, the pack were all staring at the door as if unable to believe that Stiles had left them like that. 

Derek continued kicking and pounding at the door, refusing to quit, he had to get to Stiles, he had to stop him or go with him or do something. Almost half an hour later he felt the magic snap and vanish and he almost ripped the door off as he rushed outside, he knew the cars had left almost twenty-five minutes ago, but, he’d be able to catch up, he just had to know where they were going. 

“We have to find him.” Derek snarled, “Peter, call Rachel.” 

“To cast the tracking spell again?” Peter said calmly and Derek glared at him, how could Peter be so calm? Stiles was missing! They had to find him! “Derek, the tracking spell nearly killed you last time, and, it didn’t work out too well for Stiles or any of us either.” Peter explained delicately and Derek deflated, like he really needed reminding of the fact that his plan had meant Stiles had been forced to obey Robin. 

“I can’t just let him go off by himself, what if he gets hurt? What if he doesn’t come back? What if he dies there? By himself? I need to find him.” Derek practically pleaded and Peter gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. Peter looked around at the pack, they all looked equally as defeated as Derek, Noah had tears streaming down his cheeks and they showed no signs of stopping down despite Melissa holding onto him tightly, Peter knew it was his job to reassure them and he pursed his lips in thought, how could he even begin to reassure them when everything Derek had said was true? What if Stiles died doing this? How would they ever forgive themselves for not going after him? He sighed heavily before squaring his shoulders and looking at the pack seriously. 

“Derek is right, something could happen to Stiles, in the same way that something could happen to any one of us on any given day of the week, knowing about the supernatural, fighting the supernatural, it’s dangerous, it always has been and it always will be. But, Stiles was right too. He’s killed before, a lot, and he’s good at it. He’s good at protecting himself, defending himself, a damn sight better than any of us ever have been or will be. Stiles knows what he’s getting himself in to. He’s an adult and we can’t keep trying to protect him, he doesn’t need our protection.” He paused, looking Derek in the eye, “When Stiles came back here he told us that he wasn’t going to exchange one cage for another, and I understand that. For so long he was kept as a prisoner, he was made to fight, he was made to kill, somebody else decided when he got to eat, sleep, go to the toilet, somebody else made all the decisions for him. Now he’s making his own decisions and we have to respect that, even if we don’t agree with them.”

“But what if he gets hurt?” Scott whimpered.

“Stiles can take care of himself, he will be fine.” Peter said, hoping to convince himself as much as everyone else. “Last time we tried to help Stiles we nearly got ourselves killed, nearly got Stiles killed. We have to trust him. We have to believe in him.”

“I said, god, what if something happens and I never get to tell him how sorry I am?” Noah sobbed and Melissa hugged him tighter.

“He knows how much you love him Noah, he knows, I know he does. And when he gets back, you can tell him again.” Melissa said with fierce determination and Noah nodded numbly, “I mean it, he knows but you will remind him how much you love him when he comes back. Yes?” 

“Yeah.” Noah mumbled.

“Noah,” She scolded, “He knows but you’ll tell him when he gets back!” 

“Yes. He knows but I’ll tell him again. I will. I will.” Noah said, the tears finally stopping as he nodded at Melissa with a determined gaze. “You’re right. You are. How did I ever get so lucky?” Noah said, pressing his lips gently to her forehead. 

“Pure luck.” She teased fondly. “Stiles will be fine. He will be.”

“Yeah. He’ll be fine.” Noah agreed, sounding almost confident in the lie.

Stiles stopped his jeep behind the two vehicles that carried the sprites, they’d been driving for three hours and Stiles was finally able to stop the shaking in his hands, he felt terrible leaving the pack like that, he’d heard Derek shouting for him to come back but he just couldn’t, Charles had been right, even if he’d been a dick about it, but, Stiles had the ability to help, and, by not doing, he was just as guilty of killing people as if he’d been the vampire himself. 

“You are welcome to our home for the evening, you can pick up their trail in the morning.” Molly offered from where she stood at Stiles’ window and Stiles shook his head. 

“From what you’ve said this vamp prefers hunting at night, some people just can’t shake the stereotypes, so, I’d rather get started now.” Stiles said, brushing off their offer and restarting his jeep. 

“It’s been a long day, you should rest.” Molly pressed.

“I’m fine.” Stiles replied. “I’ll be in touch once I have anything.” He said before pulling away and driving through town. 

It wasn’t hard, actually, it was kind of pathetic how easy it was, Stiles had parked in the centre of town and wandered around for a little while, it was easy to lure them to him, making it look like he was a slightly drunk high school student, making his way home late at night when there were very few other people around, he was easy pickings. 

The djinn stepped into the end of the alleyway, blocking Stiles’ forward path, he had a wide grin and tattoos that ran up and down his arms, Stiles stumbled to a stop, looking at him in confusion as the djinn’s grin stretched wider, Stiles paused before turning around as casually as he could and starting to walk back the way he had come, he had barely made it more than a few steps when the vampire stepped into the other end of the alleyway and Stiles stopped, looking at them both nervously, allowing fear to seep into his scent as they closed in around him. 

“Well, look what we have here, he smells so sweet, I’m going to enjoy playing with him.” The djinn whispered and the vampire laughed, baring her teeth and snapping them in Stiles’ direction. Stiles waited until they were close enough and dropped the façade, squaring his shoulders and gripping a knife tightly by his side. 

“Alright, this is how this is going to go. You’re going to stop killing people, go hunt some animals or something instead.” Stiles started and the vampire and djinn both froze, looking at each other before laughing loudly. 

“Oh I like you, you’ve got spunk, and, you know what we are, and, look at that, no fear.” The vampire grinned, “You’re something special, aren’t you? What’s your name? So I know what to call you while I’m spending the next few days draining every last drop of blood from your body.”

“My name is Stiles, but, you’ll know me as The Kid.” He smirked, it widening when they both paled. “Good, so, you know who I am, you know how this will end if you don’t leave, if you don’t stop, and I don’t just mean here, if you carry on killing I will track you to the ends of the earth, there will be on peace for you, not here, not anywhere. The choice is yours.” Stiles warned.

“And why shouldn’t we just kill you now? I mean, look at you, you’re not nearly as scary as the stories make out. We could kill you and then carry on with what we’re doing now, taking people, spending days draining them of their blood, spending days feeding off their terror, why ruin such a good thing by running from you?” The vampire taunted, leaning closer and Stiles leaned away, his heart racing with adrenaline, and the vampire smirked, knowing she was victorious.

“I say we take him,” The djinn whispered, “Have fun with him, I bet his fear is delicious.” 

“Make your decision, clocks ticking.” Stiles replied with a steady voice, he was not afraid of them, he would never be afraid of them, he could handle this. 

“We’ve already decided little one, you’ll be a good feed for us, I’m going to make you scream until you can’t even beg any more, you’ll want it to be over, you’ll plead for it to be over.” The djinn taunted, leaning in closer, almost close enough to touch. Stiles waited for him to reach a finger out, about to dose Stiles with his magic when Stiles shifted, slamming the knife into his skull and dropping the body to the ground. There was a stillness in the air for a split second before the vampire reacted, launching herself at him and letting out a shrill shriek, Stiles just managed to dodge her outstretched hands but it was a close thing, the alleyway didn’t give him much space to work with and as he dodged another attack he smashed into the wall, delaying his escape by a second and giving her enough time to wrap a strong hand around his throat.

“I’m going to kill you Kid, and then, then I’m going to brag to everyone about how I was the one to kill you, how I drained the famous Kid for days, that I reduced you to a pitiful shell of anything that once resembled you.” The vampire taunted and Stiles struggled enough against her hand that he had a little bit of air, giving her a wide grin. 

“You know how the villains in movies always fail because they’re too busy making monologues…” Stiles began and the vampire looked at him with amusement, Stiles grinned right back at her, stabbing a knife into her arm with the exact same move he’d showed Danny, the instant she recoiled in shock he went on the attack, slashing and jabbing with his knife as she scratched and tore with her nails and teeth, once again moving out of reach just in time to avoid killing blows. He ducked under her outstretched arms and slammed the knife upwards under her chin, and, while she was stumbling backwards from that blow, he ripped it out and slammed it in again behind her ear, watching as she dropped to the ground lifelessly. 

He let out a calming breath, assessing his injuries and deciding there wasn’t anything that serious, although his shirt was probably useless, he could see the outlines of the wolves prowling across his skin, saw Derek’s red eyes flashing at him dangerously and he felt such a sudden powerful longing to be home, he pulled his phone out as he walked back towards his jeep, pulling his jacket tight around him in the hopes of hiding the blood if anyone saw him.

“Molly, it’s done, the bodies are in the alleyway off fifth and central. I’m going home now.” Stiles said quickly, ending the call before Molly could even speak. He drove faster than he had done on the way here, as if every atom in his body wanted him to get home sooner, get back to his pack faster, tell his dad he was sorry, tell him he loved him. 

He pulled up outside the house at around four in the morning, he was exhausted but he felt such relief at being home, knowing his pack were inside, he headed up the steps, opening the door silently and listening for the sound of anyone being awake, they weren’t. He climbed up the stairs to the first floor, saw all the bedroom doors were open apart from his own and he moved towards it, a fond smile on his face when he opened the door and saw the entire pack sprawled out in one position or another. He was surprised that they didn’t wake up when he entered the room, but he was kind of relieved, he was too tired to argue with anyone right now, he pulled off his ruined shirt, deciding against a shower in case it woke them, but knowing they’d freak if they smelled blood and couldn’t see that Stiles was fine, he rolled his eyes and padded bare-chested to the bed, slipping in behind Jackson with ease and closing his eyes and drifting to sleep.


	23. Chapter 23

Derek wasn’t sure what woke him, it wasn’t like he’d been able to get to sleep easily, none of the pack had, not until they knew if Stiles was okay, Cora had suggested they sleep in Stiles’ room, hoping his scent would help them relax, and, before Derek knew it most of the pack had drifted off. He didn’t remember going to sleep but he must have done because he was waking up now and he wasn’t sure why, he buried his nose a little deeper in Stiles’ pillow, hoping it would help him slip back into sleep when he caught the scent of Stiles’ blood and, a second later, registered his heart beat in the bed with them. 

He sat up quickly, the pack grumbling slightly around him but not waking up, he saw Stiles instantly, curled up behind Jackson, he was sleeping peacefully but Derek could see the smears of blood from some shallow scratches across his arms, chest and stomach, he watched as the wolves prowled across his skin, as dark trees grew up his side and a stream ran through the trees and towards his hip, the wolves moving seamlessly through the trees, it was beautiful and Derek wanted to trace the tattoos so badly, but he didn’t have that right, he wasn’t allowed to touch Stiles like that, more importantly, right now, he had to know Stiles was okay. He shifted around, clambering over the slumbering pack, until he was next to Stiles, examining the injuries properly, his fingers brushing the ones on his arm softly, pressing gently to relieve whatever pain Stiles was in. 

“m’fine. Go to sleep.” Stiles mumbled in exhaustion, pulling Derek back down into the bed and letting out a soft grunt that didn’t seem to have any meaning before he went back to sleep. Derek rolled onto his side so he could have a clear view of Stiles, so he could study him while he slept, Stiles seemed to be okay, there weren’t any major injuries, he just seemed tired, Derek frowned and Stiles huffed, opening his eyes just slightly, “I’m fine sourwolf, go back to sleep, we’ll talk in the morning.” Stiles muttered, keeping the eye contact with Derek until Derek finally nodded in agreement. Derek shifted as he tried to get comfortable before he eventually flung an arm out over Stiles’ stomach and pulled him a little closer, it was very easy to go to sleep after that. 

“Turn it off.” Stiles grumbled sleepily, not sure whose alarm was going off but knowing if it didn’t stop soon he was going to throw it out of the nearest window. 

“You turn it off.” Scott replied, his voice still rough from sleep, until, suddenly the bed shifted and Scott spoke again, “Stiles? Stiles!” He cried in relief and Stiles opened his eyes just in time to see Scott scrambling over the slowly wakening pack to land on him, clinging to him tightly. Stiles figured he probably could have avoided Scott if Derek wasn’t practically wrapped around him, half lying on Stiles’ chest, his stubble brushing against Stiles’ bare chest as he moved slightly, obviously trying to get comfortable and avoid getting hit by Scott, Stiles really wished he had put a t-shirt back on, because, seriously, Derek’s stubble was doing things to him that it really freaking shouldn’t do. He took a shaky breath, knowing he needed to get himself under control if he didn’t want everyone in the room to know how much it turned him on to have Derek sleeping on him, and wasn’t that just completely messed up?

“When did you get back!?” Erica asked, throwing herself on him as soon as Scott moved. 

“Stiles? You’re home?” Noah asked, and Stiles tensed, the amount of relief in his dad’s voice made Stiles feel even guiltier about leaving him the night before, he sat up, pushing Erica and Derek off him so he could look clearly at his dad. 

“I’m sorr…” He began before his dad shoved himself out of the bed and grabbed Stiles into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry, god, I’m so sorry son, I didn’t mean it, I didn’t mean any of it, I love you, I love you so damn much, you have to know how much I love you.” Noah rambled, hugging him so tightly that Stiles was actually struggling to breathe slightly.

“Dad, werewolf strength.” He choked out and Noah let go immediately.

“God, Stiles, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” 

“I’m fine dad, honestly, I’m fine.” He said, watching as his dad’s gaze dropped lower, studying him for injuries, frowning when he saw the shallow wounds that had already scabbed over. 

“Are they dead?” Noah asked determinedly, as if he would go and kill them himself for daring to touch his son.

“Yeah, I tried to talk some sense into them, but, it didn’t work.” He admitted. 

“But, you’re okay?” Noah pressed and Stiles nodded, Noah let out a little sob before he pulled Stiles back into another hug. “I’m so sorry Stiles, I should have never shouted at you like that, you’re right, you’re old enough and mature enough to make your own decisions, I’ll do my best to respect that.” 

“It was the right thing to do dad.” Stiles replied, “I know you don’t approve, but, Charles was right, people were being killed and I had the ability to do something about it. I,” Stiles cleared his throat uncertainly before continuing, “I’ve killed a lot of people, and, nothing is ever going to make that right, but, maybe, maybe I can make amends for it, or at least begin to, by making a difference to the people that I can help.” He explained, sitting down on the bed as the rest of the pack gathered around him. 

“I understand what you mean Stiles, but, you have to remember, you did nothing wrong, you’ve killed, yes, I’m not denying it, none of us are, but, that is the only reason you are still alive, so I won’t think it’s wrong, not now, not ever, if it means I have you back in my life, that you are alive, I will never think it is wrong that you have killed.” Noah said seriously.

“I know you think that, but, I want, I want some good to come of this, and, maybe, maybe helping people this way, maybe it will help me be, well not okay, but, to make some difference to what I’ve done.” Stiles replied, he’d been planning how to say this since he’d left yesterday and now he couldn’t even get the words out right, but his father was looking at him with understanding. 

“Okay son, you’re right, I don’t approve of it, because I don’t like the idea of you getting hurt, I don’t like the thought of you being out there alone where I don’t know what is happening to you and can only imagine the worst. But, I will support your choices, no matter what. And, if the need arises, if somebody else asks for help, if you want to do it again, want to go help people that need it, then I will, I will support you.” 

“Thank you.” Stiles said solemnly, pulling his dad into another hug before stepping back and sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping a hand across his face in exhaustion.

“So how did it go then? We didn’t expect you back so soon, was it not very far away?” Allison asked and Stiles shrugged.

“About three hours’ drive, it was pretty straight forward actually, they were idiots, I lured them into an alleyway and then told them to stop killing or I would kill them.” Stiles explained, looking down at the wolves on his arms as they prowled around his skin. 

“Obviously they said no?” Peter queried and Stiles huffed out a laugh.

“Obviously.” He grinned. “So, yeah, they thought killing me was a better option, I took them out and then told Molly and came home.” 

“You must be exhausted, you don’t need to go to school today.” Noah said and Stiles flopped back on to the bed, a smirk on his lips and his eyes closed. 

“If I’d known I only had to go fight monsters to be allowed a day off school I would have done it ages ago.” Stiles teased before he rolled over and shoved himself off the bed, Derek was doing his best not to stare at the pale expanse of skin in front of him, tried not to remember how good it had felt under his own only minutes earlier. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve done a lot more on a hell of a lot less sleep before.” He grinned before moving towards the door and going to get a shower. 

An hour later everyone was out of bed, dressed and fed, Melissa insisting on covering some of the slightly deeper cuts with plasters in case he reopened the injuries during the day, Stiles smiling fondly at her overprotectiveness. 

Within weeks Stiles’ class was a hot topic in conversation, people were constantly talking about if he’d be putting on other classes for people outside of the school. Stiles didn’t know why it was suddenly so popular until Kira explained that one of the girls taking his class, Jenna, had been out on Saturday night and had been attacked by a man, she’d knocked him out without any hesitation and then called for help, as soon as the police arrived she’d explained that she’d been taking a self-defence class and after that she’d told pretty much anyone and everyone she spoke to about it, how Stiles’ class had saved her. 

As soon as Stiles found out he asked Kira to point Jenna out to him at lunch and went across to her to talk to her. 

“Hey Jenna.” He said, surprised when she launched herself out of her seat and threw herself at him. 

“Thank you! Thank you! You saved my life!” She hugged him tightly and Stiles froze for a moment before he relaxed and hugged her back. 

“I didn’t do anything. You’re the one that knocked him out, I only taught you how.” Stiles said modestly. 

“Yeah, exactly, without you I would have had no idea what to do, honestly, I’m so, so glad you started teaching those classes!” Jenna praised and Stiles blushed, not sure what he could say to that.

“Look, I just, I um, I wanted to make sure you’re okay? I heard about what happened, and, well, it’s never nice to have to hurt someone, but, I just, I thought I should check you are alright?”

“I’m great, really, honestly, I’m okay. I feel empowered, invincible.” She grinned before her features softened and she looked at him with pure gratefulness, “I know it might not seem like much to you, but, I will never be able to repay you for what you’ve done for me.” Stiles blushed brighter at that.

“Yeah, well, I’m glad you’re okay.” He mumbled before moving back towards the rest of the pack, an idea beginning to form in his mind, even if it felt kind of ridiculous to even think about it. 

Graduation came around surprisingly quickly, honestly Stiles was just happy he graduated, once upon a time he knew that he would have been battling Lydia for valedictorian, that it would have meant the world to him to beat her because then maybe she’d finally notice him, he huffed out a laugh at how things had changed. 

He was surrounded by the pack, they were all a little overprotective since the run in with a group of harpies two nights ago, they’d been gunning for Stiles and no matter how hard they’d all fought, it hadn’t stopped one of them managing to get their talons wrapped around Stiles’ upper arms and started to fly off with him. The fall from fifty feet up would have probably killed any normal human but Stiles sent out a pulse of magic after he’d slashed off one of her wings and managed to land on the ground only marginally softer than he should have done, thankfully only breaking his arm and hitting his head hard enough to knock him out for a few moments. 

He still managed to recover and get back to his feet before the harpy had landed next to him and tried to claw off his face, thankfully the rest of the pack had managed to defeat the other harpies and it had been Danny that had stabbed a knife into her remaining wing, ripping it downwards and tearing the wing from her body, Stiles finished her off a second later while she had screamed in outrage and pain. 

Stiles had managed to heal his broken arm before they’d got back to the house, quite proud of the fact he was getting control of his magic enough to heal himself every once in a while, even if he hadn’t managed to mend the gouges in his upper arms from her talons, or the nasty bump on his head, but, still, he was happy with what he had achieved. 

The pack however, had barely let him had a moment to breathe by himself since, it was obvious they were all worried about him, and, okay, maybe he’d been a bit off that evening, but, honestly, now that he had more control over his magic, he couldn’t deny how exhausted he felt after he’d used it sometimes, only for the big things, like, healing himself, or, he didn’t know, stopping himself from hitting the ground and cracking open like an egg, Stiles was personally incredibly proud of that piece of magic, but, it did wipe him out and having the pack hovering around him like he genuinely had died got a little overwhelming after the first ten minutes.

He’d accepted it though, accepted that they needed the physical closeness to see that he was okay, especially when they could see and smell the blood on him, it was easier after he’d been allowed a shower, although Erica had jumped on him before he’d even finished getting dressed, landing on top of him on the bed and rubbing her nose into his side where her wolf was currently resting. Stiles thought it was weird, but, he was kind of used to weird by now, especially when Erica started talking to the tattoo, telling it that it was doing a good job of protecting Stiles and that she really appreciated it. Stiles had rolled his eyes at her actions but then everyone started doing it, piling into the room and nosing at his skin wherever their wolf was currently prowling, the humans thankfully just touched their counterparts and flashed him a warm smile. Derek, thank god, hadn’t gotten involved, Stiles was pretty sure he would have had a heart attack if Derek had started pressing his nose against the hem of Stiles’ boxers, which is where Derek’s wolf had taken to prowling on an almost daily basis. 

He didn’t have control of his tattoos, he didn’t know that he wanted to, he liked having the wolves wandering over his skin and at least they were considerate enough that they stayed under his clothes while he was at school. Occasionally other tattoos appeared on his skin, sometimes they had relevance, like when it seemed like the entire preserve had formed on his back the wolves all running happily amongst the trees. Other times they had no relevance whatsoever, a cave in the mountains, dark and dreary looking, a house that nobody recognised, a waterfall that fell off the edge of Stiles’ skin. Stiles wasn’t going to pretend he understood them but, he was kind of used to them, and, they were pretty cool, he felt like he was in Harry Potter or something, now that he had magic and moving tattoos.

He looked around the hall, his dad was stood a few rows into the stands, Peter, Melissa, Chris and Derek watching from next to him, clapping loudly when any member of the pack was called up to accept their diploma, Stiles squeezed Allison’s hand tightly, she looked a little misty eyed and Stiles knew that she was missing her mom, it was hard because her mom hadn’t been the best person, but, she was still Allison’s mom, and nothing can ever change how you feel about your mom, nothing can stop you wishing they were here on days like this, Stiles knew how she felt because he felt the exact same. 

One-by-one the pack was called up to the stage, all of them beaming wildly to the sounds of raucous applause from behind them, until finally Stiles’ name was called. 

“M…Mic…Mik…Stiles Stilinski!” The principle called and Stiles blushed at the failed pronunciation of his name as he walked forward to accept his diploma. The crowd seemed too loud in his ears, he could hear the pack applauding him but it seemed like most of the other students and parents were applauding him too, as if they were all proud of the fact that he had graduated, and, incredibly, he wasn’t even bottom of the class. He grinned widely, his gaze finding his dad in the rows behind the other students and giving him a quick thumbs up which made his dad laugh. 

Lydia gave the perfect valedictorian speech, as if any of them expected any different, talking about how they were just starting out in their lives and they could go anywhere and do anything they wanted, that the world was their oyster, it was empowering, although, Stiles felt a wave of panic nearly overtake him at the thought of the pack all moving on and splitting up and not being around anymore. He’d heard them all talking about college, Lydia had forced him to apply for a couple even though he didn’t want to, but, he’d thought they were joking around, that they wouldn’t actually be leaving Beacon Hills. He’d just sort of assumed that they would all be staying around here, hell, he’d kind of figured out what he wanted to do, even if it sounded ridiculous and he hadn’t managed to say it out loud to anyone yet, but, he could do it here, he could do it anywhere he guessed, it’s just, he’d kind of planned on setting up here, in his hometown, with his dad and his pack. 

His dad pulled him into a bruising hug as soon as the ceremony was over, Stiles hugging him back just as tightly, neither of them had ever thought they’d get to see this day so it was understandably emotional. As soon as his dad let go of him, Melissa, who had been hugging Scott, pulled him into another hug and wiped at the tears in her eyes.

“We’re so proud of you, both of you.” Melissa said and Scott and Stiles grinned at each other as they pulled each other into a hug. Stiles kind of lost track after that, there were a lot of hugs, some not much more than a brief slap on the back, others much longer, other students mingled in with them and hugged different members of the pack, Stiles seemed to have almost a queue of people waiting to hug him and he felt distinctively uncomfortable when he thought back to the texts he’d read about being ‘Mr sexy hands’, thankfully, Kira saved him from hugging anyone else when she grabbed his hand and pushed him in Derek’s direction. 

“Congratulations.” Derek said simply and Stiles smiled fondly, moving forward to give Derek a hug before he lost the courage. Derek wrapped his arms around him, holding him close, it felt somehow a lot more intimate than any other hugs he’d ever had, he felt safe and protected and cared for and loved, everything he’d ever felt from his dad’s hugs but, more, somehow. He didn’t know if that made any sense, if it was because it was his Alpha that was hugging him, or if it was because it was Derek, but, he really didn’t want to move out of his arms, which meant that he had to, before Derek felt uncomfortable with Stiles, if he didn’t already. 

“Thanks.” Stiles muttered, pulling away and rubbing nervously at the back of his neck before Peter pulled him into a hug. 

“Always knew you were the smart one.” Peter teased and Stiles huffed out a laugh, any tension between Derek and Stiles was dispersed and everyone was chatting excitedly about the summer, about their plans, about where they were going to college, the pack were being vague with their answers and Stiles frowned at that, he hadn’t really paid attention before, mainly because he’d had a million other thoughts going on in his head, but, none of them had actually specifically said where they were going to college. 

They were heading off to LA the next day to the opening of Wolf’s gala, Stiles was really looking forward to it, not just the trip with the pack, but, he couldn’t wait to see more of wolf’s work, he knew it was pathetic, but, when his dad and he had gone to New York and seen one of his paintings Stiles had sat there for hours. It was just, there were no words to describe it, it felt like the artist had put everything he had into that one piece, that there would be nothing left of him afterwards, all his emotions, all the fear and pain and grief and anger and heartbreak, all the joy and love and relief and safety and sorrow, it was all there, and Stiles could see it plain as day and it broke his heart to look away, although eventually he had had to because the museum was closing. 

They’d all been invited to a post-graduation party and Stiles hadn’t been keen on going as he didn’t want to drive to LA tomorrow feeling like crap, but Scott had talked him into it, Stiles didn’t like big, loud crowds, it reminded him too much of the arenas, but he knew he would get over it eventually, and, if most of the pack were there, he was sure he would be fine. 

As it was he did have a good time in the end, it didn’t start out that great, mainly because people he only vaguely knew kept coming up to him and offering him drinks, clearly they were drunk and they kept staring at his hands and Stiles was so embarrassed that he’d have been happy to leave that second and never come back. Stiles felt a bit lost, it was clear that the pack were all in couples, that he was somehow the only odd one out and he didn’t want to make himself a third wheel, so, he’d wandered into the kitchen by himself to get a drink, he was tense, wondering what the hell he was doing here, when someone knocked into him by accident, he stepped sideways to avoid getting another drink spilt all over him and suddenly there was someone shoving their tongue down his throat. 

He managed to shove them off easily, pushing the guy backwards hard enough that he fell backwards into a crowd of people and landed on the floor, Stiles was freaking out, he couldn’t be here, he needed to get the hell out of here, he’d half turned towards the door, ready to make a break for it when Sarah stepped into his path.

“What a jackass.” She said loudly, gesturing to the guy on the floor and Stiles smiled at her in relief, glad there was a friendly face there, “You okay?” She asked slightly quieter as the conversations around them resumed and the guy wandered off towards the bathroom. 

“Yeah, fine, thanks.” Stiles said gratefully. 

“You had it handled.” She grinned.

“I meant, thanks for, like, not making me feel awkward about it.” Stiles replied.

“Damn it, and here I was trying to make it super awkward for you, did I mess that up!?” She said sarcastically and Stiles found himself grinning at her. 

“Yeah dude, you totally messed that one up, although, I’m sure they’ll be another awkward moment that you can take advantage of.” He teased. 

“Glad to hear it.” Sarah smiled, grabbing two cups from the kitchen counter and motioning to the back yard. “Come on, you’ll feel better in the fresh air.” She said, striding ahead of him and clearing his path, Stiles was a little bit amazed at how confident she seemed, he shook his head in amusement and followed after her. He saw the other pack members looking at him to check he was okay, no doubt having overheard the commotion in the kitchen, but he waved them away, he was fine and he didn’t need them worrying about him. 

Sarah led them to a quieter part of the back yard and sat down on one of the benches and Stiles hesitated for a moment before he sat down next to her, feeling uncomfortable at their isolation, Sarah seemed nice, funny, smart, but, there was also something just a little off with her, he couldn’t quite place it, he thought it might be the fact that she had asked him out previously, she was probably just a little uncomfortable or embarrassed about that and he was picking up on it. 

“So, I’m guessing you don’t like people randomly sticking their tongue down your throat, just, because, I’m trying to figure out how best to do it without having my throat torn out.” She grinned and Stiles shook his head in exasperation. 

“Smarter move would be not to try it at all.” He replied, taking a swig from the cup Sarah handed to him and pulling a face when he realised it was at least fifty per cent alcohol, Sarah laughed at the face he made and took a swig of her own drink. 

“I’m not known to be that smart.” She replied jokingly and Stiles frowned slightly, not sure how to respond to that, he knew she was joking, but, at the same time, he wanted to make sure she knew he wasn’t interested in dating, not her anyway, he may or may not be changing his mind because of a certain tall, dark, definitely less brooding than he used to be, Alpha, not that he could tell her that, not when the pack would be able to hear every word he spoke. 

“Yeah, so, have you got plans for college?” He asked, trying to change the subject and Sarah rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah I have, I’ve had a few different offers actually, what about you? Where are you planning to go to college?” There was a loud shout from nearby and Stiles flinched, twisting himself so that he was ready to protect himself only to realise it was just one of the other students shouting about nearly getting pushed into the pool by accident, when he turned back around Sarah was looking at him with sympathy in her eyes and Stiles tried not to get annoyed by that, he was not someone to be pitied, he was strong, he’d survived what a lot of other people wouldn’t have, what a lot of other people hadn’t survived. “Hey, you want to get out of here? There’s a trail through the preserve not far from here? We can go for a walk?”

“A walk sounds good.” Stiles answered honestly and Sarah stood up leading him out of the back gate and towards the preserve. They walked in silence for a good quarter of a mile and Stiles actually felt himself relax slightly, which is when the wind changed direction and he caught the scent of damp earth coming from Sarah. If it had been anyone else they probably wouldn’t have known what the scent meant, but, Stiles had been around it before, and, last time it had nearly killed him. He slowed his steps, putting some distance between himself and Sarah, reaching for his magic and feeling it respond happily, he was glad the pack weren’t here, was grateful to Sarah that she’d at least kept them out of this, this would end messy, he didn’t need them getting in the way. He wished he had more knives on him than the two he’d hastily shoved down the back of his jeans, but, he hadn’t wanted anyone to get annoyed with him for continuously carrying knives, so, he’d hidden the two small knives from the pack, knowing he wouldn’t get away with any more.

“Took you long enough.” Sarah smirked, her back still to Stiles and Stiles felt every muscle in his body tense at her voice, it didn’t sound like her, not anymore, it was twisted and dark and Stiles felt his stomach drop. 

“Borgot, did you kill her or was she already dead?” Stiles asked coldly and Sarah turned around to face him, her eyes were completely black and there was a wicked grin on her face that showed off her teeth which were surprisingly more pointed that Stiles remembered. 

“Neither, she’s still alive in here, you hurt me, you hurt her.” The demon replied and Stiles froze.

“You’re lying.” 

“Are you willing to risk it? Risk killing an innocent teenager who just wants to go on a date with you? Are you really that much of a monster?” 

“You’re lying.” Stiles repeated. 

“Am I? Well, maybe I am, I guess, if I am, you won’t mind if I do this?” Sarah taunted, twisting her wrist viciously so that Stiles heard the bone break. 

“Stop it!” He cried out, not knowing what the hell to do, if Sarah was alive in there then Stiles couldn’t hurt her, but, Borgot was a demon, he lied and twisted and manipulated and tortured and killed, there was no way to fight him without going for the kill, if Stiles went easy on him then he would die, that was certain. “What do you want?” He asked, allowing the vehemence to seep into his voice.

“Simple, I want you. Well, more specifically, your body.” Borgot smiled. 

“You want me to let you possess me?” Stiles said in dawning horror. 

“Of course, there’s no way I could get past your magic without your consent, so, you let me in, and I let her go.” Borgot smiled and Stiles hesitated, his mind racing, he couldn’t let Sarah die, but, the damage Borgot could do in his body, with his magic, it didn’t bear thinking about. 

“No.” Stiles said firmly.

“You’d rather I kill this girl? Or maybe I use her and go kill your precious pack, even they can’t heal from having their hearts torn from their chests.” Borgot said sweetly and Stiles snarled, pulling the knives from his jeans. 

“You won’t touch them and you will let her go. Get out of her. Right now.” Stiles growled and Borgot laughed. 

“Oh Kid, you’ve grown confident, but, it won’t do you any good. I’m not going to leave just because you told me to. How about, instead, we play a little game?” He teased before letting out a loud high-pitched scream that Stiles had no doubt the wolves would hear without any issue. Borgot smirked at him as Stiles stared at him in shock, “You think you can kill me without hurting her before they get here?” He asked and Stiles paled, if the pack came then Borgot would kill them, the same way he was probably going to kill Stiles. 

Borgot charged forwards and Stiles had to go on the defensive, he’d hesitated a moment too long and now the demon was attacking him and the only defence he had was to try and outrun him even when he knew he wouldn’t be able to for long. He sent out a blast of magic and it caused Borgot to stumble just the slightest bit, Stiles used that to his advantage, dodging past Borgot and running as fast as he could away from the party, away from where the pack would soon be coming. He had to at least give them a chance to get away from Borgot and that meant being the distraction, being the bait.

“Come on then you fucker!” He called back over his shoulder and Borgot grinned, flashing pointed teeth before following after him, Stiles knew he was probably insane, it was the only explanation as to why he felt relieved when Borgot chased after him rather than waiting for the pack. 

Stiles could sense him gaining with every step, he wasn’t going to be fast enough, he didn’t have the protection of the arena, of Marcus calling an end to the fight when Borgot had pinned Stiles and tried to claw his guts out, he should have realised that as soon as the collars had been deactivated Borgot would have smoked out of that meatsuit and come after Stiles, the only person who had come even partially close to beating him, and, demons having the huge egos that they do, Borgot wasn’t going to let that drop, he would be out to prove himself. Stiles should have thought about that, but, he’d been so messed up, there had been so much else going on, he had forgotten all about it. 

Stiles ran straight at the tree in front of him, sliding to his knees at the last second and skidding around the side of it so that Borgot slammed his shoulder into the tree as he tried to grab Stiles, the force of the impact knocked the tree to the ground and Stiles only just managed to avoid being crushed by throwing himself backwards. 

He saw a clear opening where he could throw one of his knives but it would mean killing Sarah if she was still trapped in there, his hesitation meant the moment was gone and Borgot was on him, he tried to defend himself as best he could, blocking the blows, not wanting to return any of his own in case he killed Sarah, he knew the unwillingness to kill her was going to result in his own death and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Borgot got a hand around his throat and lifted him clear off the floor, his feet dangling helplessly, Sarah smiling sweetly at him and blinking her eyes back to their normal brown as the pack came skidding into the clearing, taking in the scene, looking at Sarah holding a choking Stiles off the ground. Stiles felt the muscles in her arm tense and braced himself before he was thrown backwards and smashed into a tree hard enough that it splintered and cracked under the impact, agony ripping across his back as his vision blacked out for a moment. He heard the cries of panic from his pack as he crashed to the floor, groaning in pain as he tried to get back to his feet, heard roars coming from the other direction and winced as he clambered to his feet and Derek, Noah, Peter, Melissa and Chris came crashing through the trees.

“Stiles!” Noah called out, Stiles blinked rapidly, he was swaying on his feet but he was at least standing, the pack were split on either side, Borgot standing between Stiles and them, his head was ringing and when he wiped a shaky hand across his forehead it came away bloody, he couldn’t think about that right now, he had to focus on a way to defeat Borgot without hurting Sarah. 

“Sarah! What are you doing!?” Scott called out in horror and Stiles would have facepalmed if he’d had the energy.

“It’s not Sarah, not anymore.” He whispered, still loud enough for the wolves to hear. 

“So we kill her.” Jackson snarled and Stiles frowned, Borgot was standing still, waiting for someone to make the first move, smirking at Stiles while wearing Sarah’s face, it made him feel sick to his stomach, well, that or the head injury. 

“We can’t.” Stiles replied. “Sarah’s alive in there, he’s just wearing her meatsuit.” 

“What?” Isaac asked in confusion.

“Demon.” Peter spat in disgust and Stiles nodded, never moving his eyes from Borgot, knowing the demon would pounce the second he was distracted, “What do we do?” Peter asked, looking to Stiles for guidance and Borgot laughed. 

“You look to this, this child,” He spat, “You look to him for guidance? He can’t beat me, none of you can, and, if you try, this girl dies. So, tell me, Kid, what are you going to do? How are you going to beat me?” He taunted.

“You’re lying.” Derek growled and they all startled. “He’s lying. She’s already dead.” 

“What!?” Erica asked sounding shocked. 

“She’s already dead, I can smell it, can hear it in his heart beat. He’s lying. She’s dead. Has been for a day or so I’d say.” Derek explained and Stiles felt himself almost collapse in relief, he could fight Borgot, he could go for the kill and not worry about hurting Sarah, he gripped his knives a little tighter, squaring his shoulders and preparing himself as best he could. 

“Oh come now, Kid, you don’t believe him, do you? You’d trust the word of a werewolf? When we both know how they treated you? What? You think these ones are any more trustworthy than the ones in the arena? You think they won’t turn their back on you just as easily if it suits them? You think they won’t hurt you? Abandon you? Kill you if it works in their favour?” Borgot taunted and Stiles gritted his teeth, remaining silent, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

“You’re wrong! We love him! We’d do anything for him!” Allison shouted and Borgot smirked, still not looking away from Stiles. 

“Listen to that, you even have a hunter defending you. Oh how times have changed.” He smirked and Stiles shifted slightly, grinning ferally when Borgot shifted his stance too. 

“Stiles, tell us what you want us to do.” Lydia said seriously and Stiles smiled taking a sideways step, forcing Borgot to take a step in the opposite direction, he remained silent though, assessing the only threat to his pack right now, the one that would kill them all if Stiles died. He could not fail, not now. He released his magic, allowed it to surround him, almost overtake him, forgetting about the way his head throbbed and his back ached, those pains could be forgotten, survival was more important, his magic was more important, he could almost see it in the air around him, he knew the wolves felt it too, the way they all tensed, shrugging their shoulders like they were ready to shift as soon as he wanted them to. 

Borgot let out a roar and charged but Stiles was ready for him this time, he ducked under the outstretched arm, slicing his knife across Borgot’s stomach, the cut wasn’t deep enough, just enough to slice through the skin slightly, it pissed Borgot off more than anything, but, that was Stiles’ plan. Keep his attention on Stiles, not on the pack. He shoved his magic outwards, making sure that the wolves were protected in case Borgot decided to attack them first and then he dove into the fight with purpose. Everything became a bit of a blur, he was aware of the pack around him but he couldn’t think about them, the only thing he could think about was Borgot, about avoiding his blows, about taking him down. 

Scott took a step towards them and Stiles saw Borgot twist his body, going to go for Scott, Stiles threw himself into his path, blocking Scott from view but giving up the sure footing he had, Borgot smirked and Stiles knew he was about to die, he was vulnerable, no defence to be had as Borgot surged his hand forward and broke through the flesh of Stiles’ stomach. 

Stiles choked out a pained gasp, felt Borgot’s fingers digging around in his stomach, Stiles was pretty sure he was going to be sick the pain was that intense, he heard the cries of denial coming from the pack, saw his dad and Derek moving towards him and all he could think was that they were next, that Borgot would kill them too. He grabbed onto Sarah’s shoulders, gripping as tight as he could and pushed all the magic he had outward, imagining that he would be able to blast Borgot out of her body.

There was a blast of white light and an enraged roar from Borgot and suddenly Sarah was stumbling back from him, staring at her blood covered hand in horror, looking at Stiles with wide eyes and Stiles couldn’t even feel relief that she was miraculously still alive, his legs were already giving out without her support keeping him upright.

“Stiles!” Derek called in terror, catching him just as his legs gave out and he crumpled towards the ground, “Hey, it’s okay, I’ve got you, I’ve got you.” Derek sounded panicked and Stiles wanted to comfort him but he didn’t have the energy, he tried to speak and instead coughed, blood spilling from his lips. 

“Oh god! Stiles!” Noah cried from next to him and Stiles wanted to keep his eyes open and look at his dad, tell him he was okay, that they were all safe, that Borgot was gone, but, he was tired, so incredibly tired, he just wanted to go to sleep. He felt someone shifting him, felt the ground beneath him, someone pulling up his t-shirt and their hands pressing against his injury, he thought he could hear Melissa’s voice, could hear someone telling him to open his eyes, he tried, he really tried, but, god, it hurt so much, worse than when he’d been clawed apart in the arena. 

“Stiles! Stay with me!” Melissa ordered, applying pressure to the wound, barking orders at the surrounding pack who were all staring at Stiles in shock, Scott was looking at the wound with horror on his features, he knew that Stiles had given up his advantage in order to protect Scott, if Stiles died it would be Scott’s fault, he should have stayed out of it, he should have never tried to help Stiles. 

Sarah was standing off to one side, staring at her hands with horror, cradling her broken wrist, tears running down her cheeks as Peter stood nearby, eyeing her suspiciously as if he was worried she was about to attack, his eyes kept darting back to where Stiles lay on the ground, struggling to take in a breath, his heart beating wildly in his chest, the pain coming from him making the air around them taste foul, Peter wanted to do anything to stop Stiles’ pain, anything to stop being able to taste it in his mouth, in the back of his throat. 

“Stiles, just hold on, hold on, you’re going to be okay, we just need to get you to the hospital.” Derek was saying, looking up at Melissa for confirmation, Melissa bit her bottom lip, her eyes filled with tears as she gave a small shake of her head. 

“If we move him now it’ll kill him.” She whispered and Derek trembled next to Stiles, clutching his hand tightly to try and draw as much pain from him as he could. 

“He’s strong. He can survive this. We just need to get him help.” Noah argued and Stiles coughed again, more blood spilling from his lips, “Stiles? Stiles can you hear me? I’m right here son, I’m right here, you’re okay, we just need to get you to the hospital.”

“D’d?” Stiles mumbled, sounding pained but aware of what was happening.

“Yeah Stiles, I’m right here, okay, so, just, you hold on, alright, hold on, we’re going to get you help.” 

“No point…” Stiles started, his words trailing off as he coughed again, his eyes blinking open and looking at his dad with such love that Derek could almost feel his heart shattering in his chest, he couldn’t lose Stiles, he couldn’t, not again, it would break him. 

He couldn’t look away from the injury in his stomach, where Borgot had slammed a hand into Stiles’ fragile, human stomach, and Derek knew that what Melissa had said was true, he was losing too much blood, he must have massive internal bleeding, the fact he was coughing up blood was a sure indictor of that, he didn’t know what to do, he was helpless, Stiles was too weak to survive the change, that would kill him too, what the hell was he supposed to do? He needed somebody to have an answer, needed someone to help him, to save Stiles, because Derek couldn’t and it wasn’t fair, they couldn’t lose him, not now, not yet, not ever. 

He watched as the wolves on Stiles’ skin paced near the wound, moving effortlessly beneath the blood, nosing at the injury and turning inward before they faded as if they had moved inside Stiles, as if they couldn’t bear to watch him die either. 

“It’s okay.” Stiles tried to reassure them between another bout of coughing and Scott let out a broken sob and Stiles looked at him with concern as Scott collapsed to his knees next to Stiles and started sobbing wholeheartedly.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Stiles, I was just trying to help, I should have never tried to help you, I should have known you could beat him, I just, I didn’t want you to get hurt and now, now… I’m sorry, it’s all my fault.” Scott sobbed and Stiles reached out a trembling hand, resting it over Scott’s hand in exhaustion.

“Relax Scotty, it’s not your fault, it’s okay…” Stiles began, stopping to suck in a painful sounding breath, pressing his lips together as he grimaced in pain. 

“God, Stiles, please, please, I’m so sorry.” Scott sobbed, too upset to even try and take any of Stiles’ pain, he didn’t even know what he was begging Stiles for, for forgiveness? To stay alive? To stay with them? He couldn’t say, he just, he needed Stiles to stay alive, needed him to be okay. 

“It’s okay.” Stiles reassured him before he rested his head back and closed his eyes, Derek froze, he could smell magic underneath the pain and he froze, he didn’t think Stiles had any magic left, not after whatever the hell he had done to that demon, but, he could smell it, there was no mistake, it was magic and power and it was coming from Stiles. 

“Stiles, you’ve still got magic, you can heal yourself.” Derek said aggressively, grabbing Stiles’ shoulder and shaking him slightly in an effort to get him to wake up. Stiles cracked open an eye and looked at him with bemusement. 

“What do you think I’m doing stressywolf?” Stiles replied lightly, he sounded pained and exhausted but nowhere near as bad as he had done moments before, Derek let out a sob of relief, keeping his hand on Stiles’ shoulder as the boy closed his eyes again and focused on trying to heal himself. 

“Oh, oh, okay, well, we can, we’ll just wait then.” Noah said, sounding so relieved that it was almost comical and Stiles gave him a weak smile, letting him know that it was okay, that he was okay, or, would be soon enough.

“What…what is happening?” Sarah asked weakly and Derek turned to look at her, she was shaking, terror wafting off her in such huge amounts that it almost covered the scent of Stiles’ pain. “Is he…is Stiles going to be okay?” She whispered and Stiles opened his eyes to look at her, trying to sit up slightly and looking to Derek for help, Derek glared at him, Stiles had an open wound in his stomach, he shouldn’t be moving yet, he was dying a few minutes ago, he should stay still and heal himself, Stiles continued to stare at him and Derek relented, helping Stiles to sit up partially and then scooting in behind him, allowing Stiles to be partially held up but with no chance of him falling back down without shoving Derek out of the way. 

“I’m alright Sarah, I’ll be fine.” Stiles reassured her and Derek was relieved to see that the blood had practically stopped flowing from the wound now, he could even, if he squinted slightly, see a slight light coming from inside the injury, Derek wanted to lie Stiles back down so he could see properly but he thought that was probably a little weird.

“What happened? I mean, I couldn’t, I didn’t want, I didn’t do this.” She said even as she stared at her bloody hand in horror. 

“No, you didn’t. You were possessed by a demon.” Lydia supplied and Sarah gaped at her. 

“But…demons don’t exist…” She whispered in fear, flinching backwards when Peter shifted, his eyes glowing blue and his fangs bared. 

“Neither do werewolves.” Peter said as he shifted back to human. 

“But…I…what?” Sarah said in shock, her hands shaking violently, Stiles shifted his weight against Derek and Derek held on to him a little tighter, looking over Stiles’ shoulder and seeing that the wound was indeed glowing now, the tattoos had reappeared and were running excitedly around the edge of the hole, which, Derek could only stare, seemed to be healing before his very eyes. 

“When I was kidnapped,” Stiles said, his voice still sounding weak and exhausted but it was steady, steadier than it had been and Derek relaxed even further at the sound, “I wasn’t fighting humans, I was fighting supernatural creatures. About three weeks before my rescue, they brought in a new gladiator. A human that had been possessed by a demon, Borgot, they had trapped him in that body using a collar that they used on every gladiator that was there against their will.” 

“So he couldn’t escape and possess someone else?” Lydia queried and Stiles nodded, wincing only slightly with pain, it was obvious he was healing quicker by the second but he also looked exhausted, like he was on the verge of collapse. 

“We fought, it wasn’t a fight to the death, I’d beaten him, and then, when I was getting up he threw me, pinned me, tried to kill me, it was only Marcus using the collar to electrocute him that kept me alive. I knew if I went up against him again that he’d kill me, I had a plan in place, an escape plan, I didn’t think it would work, but, I had to try. I got caught. Not surprising. They took me to the punishment rooms, I spent the next few days there, and then they put me back in the ring and the next day Erica and Aiden were tossed in with me, and, well, you guys know the rest.” Stiles summarised. 

“The punishment rooms? What are those? You’ve never mentioned them before?” Derek asked and Stiles shrugged weakly, closing his eyes and resting his head back against Derek’s chest as the glow in his stomach grew brighter. 

“Not really something I enjoy taking about, but, the name kind of gives it away, doesn’t it?” Stiles mumbled and Derek nodded tightly, holding Stiles a little tighter at the thought of it, if Stiles noticed he didn’t mention it and Derek fought the urge to bury his nose against Stiles’ throat and inhale his scent to remind him that Stiles was okay, healing, but, alive and safe and with them. 

“So, you escaped from there and you came back here and that demon somehow knew where you were and chose to possess me in order to kill you?” Sarah asked looking awed. 

“Yeah, which,” Stiles turned to look at Derek, the position slightly uncomfortable on his still healing stomach, but he had to know the answer, “You told me she was dead, you said you could smell it? Were you wrong? Or lying?” Derek grimaced, he’d hoped Stiles would have forgotten about that bit of information. 

“I knew you wouldn’t go for the kill if you thought Sarah was still alive, I knew you’d hesitate and he’d kill you. I said what I had to in order to get you to protect yourself.” Derek confessed and Stiles narrowed his eyes in anger, “I’m sorry for lying to you, but, I’m not sorry for what I said, I’d say it again. We all saw the way he was looking at you, you were the biggest threat to him, he wasn’t even concerned with us, he wouldn’t tear his eyes from you. I knew you were the only one that had a chance at defeating him, and if you hesitated, if he killed you first, then he’d kill the rest of us, and, I’m sorry Sarah, but, I couldn’t justify my whole pack dying in an attempt to maybe save you.” Derek explained. 

“It’s okay, I get it.” Sarah admitted, although she still sounded confused, Stiles wanted to understand where Derek was coming from, hell, he did understand where he was coming from, but, still, he shouldn’t have lied to Stiles about it. 

“It’s not okay.” Derek said, “But, I had to protect my pack, and, I’m sorry.” He sounded so concerned and guilty over the decision that he had made that Stiles could almost feel sorry for him. 

“Honestly, I get it, shitty situation, a decision had to be made. I mean, I’m glad that I’m not dead, like, super glad, but, I get you had to protect the others.” Sarah agreed and Derek sighed in relief, glad that she understood the predicament he’d been in. 

“But you still lied to me.” Stiles said, grimacing as he sat up straighter, leaning away from Derek in order to glare at him effectively. 

“I’m sor…” Derek began and Stiles gave him a death glare, Derek trailing off into silence. 

“You lied to me.” Stiles repeated angrily and Derek nodded miserably. “You thought I wouldn’t protect the pack? That I wouldn’t put their lives ahead of Sarah’s? You think that little of me?” Stiles asked heatedly and Derek looked aghast. 

“No. No, Stiles, no, that’s not it, not at all.” Derek stammered.

“What is it then!? You don’t think I’d be willing to kill to protect them? Haven’t I proven myself enough? Do you honestly think I wouldn’t protect this pack with everything I have!?” Stiles said in outrage, he was hurt that Derek didn’t trust him, after everything they’d been through, surely Derek should trust Stiles? Surely he should believe that he’d always have the pack’s best interests at heart? 

“No, Stiles, no, that’s not it.” Derek denied insistently, “It’s not that, it’s not that at all.” 

“So what is it then Derek!? Tell me why you lied to me! Tell me why you couldn’t trust me with the truth!” Stiles didn’t need to be a wolf to smell the guilt rolling off Derek, he could see the way the rest of the pack practically flinched at his tone and shuffled uncomfortably around them, even Sarah glanced at the ground instead of looking at Stiles and Derek.

“Because you care Stiles.” Derek said heatedly, huffing almost angrily and refusing to meet Stiles’ gaze, “Because every life you’ve taken sits on your shoulders, weighs you down, because you feel guilt over every one of them, and it doesn’t matter that you had no choice, that it was you or them, you still hate killing, and I didn’t want,” Derek sighed heavily, almost slumping in defeat, “I thought that if you believed Sarah was already dead, that if she did die, if she didn’t survive whatever you did to get rid of that demon, I didn’t want you to feel any more guilt over something that you had no control over. I didn’t want you to blame yourself for something that wasn’t your fault. I wanted to protect you from that.” Derek admitted and Stiles stared at him nonplussed, he’d not thought about it like that, he couldn’t believe that Derek would have lied to Stiles in an attempt to protect him from himself. “You have a good heart Stiles, you’re a good man, and, I know I lied, and I’m sorry, but, I hate seeing you hurting, and, I knew, I knew that if you thought there was a hope of saving Sarah and that she died, I knew you’d blame yourself, I knew her death would haunt you, and, I just, I didn’t want you to suffer. I’m sorry Stiles, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have lied to you. I’m sorry. Please, please forgive me.” Derek pleaded.

Stiles looked at him, saw the guilt and despair in his eyes, Derek looked truly terrified that Stiles wouldn’t forgive him for lying to him and Stiles gritted his teeth, he hadn’t done enough, he hadn’t proven himself to Derek, if Derek could doubt him, if Derek didn’t realise that Stiles would struggle to ever hold a grudge against him then Stiles hadn’t proven to him how much he, and the rest of the pack, mattered to Stiles. Hell, even when he’d been convinced that Derek and Scott had left him with the hunters, he’d still had a hard time hating them, he still hated to see them hurting, feeling guilty every time they ducked from his gaze, even as he tried valiantly to hate them, he’d struggled to hold on to that hatred but this, this meant that Derek didn’t realise that Stiles would do anything for the pack, including forgive them without a second thought. 

“Don’t lie to me again, even if you think you’re trying to protect me. Don’t ever lie to me again.” Stiles said sternly and Derek nodded quickly, something like hope in his eyes. “Alright, fine, help me up and let’s go home.” Stiles said, holding out a hand for someone to grab and pull him to his feet, Derek jumped up quickly, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet, his other hand reaching down to Stiles’ stomach and brushing it gently, Derek’s eyes wide in astonishment when he saw the freshly healed skin.

“You’re healed.” Derek sighed in relief. 

“Yeah, I’m also ready to pass out like any second, so, if you want to get home before I pass out, I suggest we get a move on.” Stiles mumbled, already fighting his eyelids as they started to close, “Sarah, are you coming with us? We should probably talk more?” 

“No. I think I’m going to go home, get a good night’s sleep. Hopefully wake up in the morning and pretend that this was a crazy dream and never happened.” She said, taking a step away from them and moving back in the direction of the party. 

“If you decide that it did happen, and you want to talk…” Lydia began and Sarah nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll come see you guys.” Sarah nodded seriously, before turning on her heel and heading back to the party. Derek pulled Stiles close to him as they made their way back through the preserve and Stiles ignored the way his stomach fluttered slightly at the contact, rolling his eyes at his body’s reaction, okay, so Derek was attractive, and he’d grown up in the years that Stiles had been gone, he’d healed in some way, gotten better at communicating, become an incredible Alpha to his pack, but, that didn’t mean Stiles was going to go all weak in the knees about him. Alright, so, maybe Stiles thought about him like that before he was taken, and, maybe, those feelings weren’t completely gone, had maybe slightly come back with a vengeance, but Stiles wasn’t some stupid hormonal teenager who was going to make a move on Derek. He was fucked up, he knew that, he wasn’t about to throw himself at the first guy who he’d ever been interested in, Derek would politely reject him, tell him that he liked Stiles but not like that and Stiles would have to nod and pretend like it didn’t bother him and then he’d have to go out and throw himself at some other guy in an attempt to pretend like whatever feelings he had for Derek weren’t that serious and he didn’t want to do that. No. It made much more sense to just pretend like he didn’t think about anyone like that, and, surely, none of the pack could blame him, not knowing just some of the things he’d been through. Surely, they wouldn’t be expecting him to want to be involved with someone just yet, maybe not for a few more years if he was lucky, hopefully by which time whatever feelings he had for Derek would be long gone. 

Stiles was feeling kind of good as they made their way back to the house, okay, maybe the night hadn’t been that brilliant, the party hadn’t been anything special, and nearly killing a girl who was possessed plus almost dying wasn’t the best, but, he was on his way home, his pack around him and all in one piece, home, he liked calling it that, wanted to believe that he could actually have a home again, that he could be happy again. 

He didn’t remember getting home, he thought he must have passed out on the way home, the exhaustion of healing his injuries enough to cause him to drop towards the ground about half a mile from the house. Derek had caught him before he hit the ground, scooping him up into his arms and carrying him the rest of the way while the others looked on in worry, using their enhanced hearing to listen to Stiles’ steady heartbeat and reassure themselves that Stiles was fine, just exhausted. They’d all piled into Derek’s bed, Stiles snuggled in at the centre next to Derek and Cora, all of them muttering hushed conversations until eventually, one by one, they slipped into sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

A nearby alarm woke Stiles, he could hear it buzzing incessantly, and, no matter how much he wanted to sleep, he knew it meant he needed to get up. He shifted around, throwing Cora’s arm off him, ignoring the grumbles from the surrounding sleeping wolves, ignoring the dull ache in his head as he sat up. It was still early, the sun only just starting to rise, it took him a moment to remember why he was awake so early and then he grinned, shaking the rest of the pack awake quickly. 

“Guys! It’s Saturday!” He said excitedly.

“So why are you waking us up?” Scott mumbled sounding exhausted. 

“Because we’re supposed to be going to LA! Wolf’s show is today! We should get going.” Stiles said, practically kicking most of the pack out of the bed in his haste to get up.

“What? You can’t be serious?” Jackson groaned. 

“I thought you wanted to go?” Stiles pouted and Jackson rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, but that was when you didn’t nearly die last night.” Jackson scowled and Stiles waved his hands in dismissal. 

“Like that is important, dude, it’s Wolf. I’ve heard he might even be there himself. Like, seriously, do you know how many freaking questions I have for the guy just on the off chance I get to talk to him?” Stiles said, already exiting the room and moving to his own bedroom to get changed, raising his voice enough that those with none supernatural hearing could still hear him, “I mean, seriously, do you guys know how fucking talented he is? I wonder what his process is? I wonder how he comes up with his paintings? I can’t believe you would even think about missing it?”

“I’m not saying we miss it. The show is still on tomorrow.” Jackson replied but he was climbing out of the bed and moving towards his own room to get dressed, rolling his eyes in amusement at Stiles. As the rest of the pack slowly woke up and got ready to leave, Stiles continued to talk about the painting he’d seen in New York, how beautiful it had been, how he could have stared at it for days and still seen new aspects of it. Cora and Peter both grinned at Derek as they headed to their own rooms and Derek felt incredibly nervous, today Stiles would find out, today the whole pack would find out, and what if they were all mad at him for lying to them? What if Stiles found out that Derek was Wolf and he was disappointed? This was such a stupid idea, he never should have decided to tell them, he should have kept it a secret until he was long dead. 

The drive was about four hours, they’d piled into various cars and Derek wasn’t sure if it made his nerves better or worse that he’d ended driving with Stiles, Noah, Danny and Ethan all piled into his car. Stiles was happy, that much was easy for any of them to see, even without smelling it, Derek couldn’t help the fond smile on his lips as he listened to Stiles talk. Eventually everyone drifted into a light sleep as Derek continued the drive, Stiles was still recovering from his injuries, and, although he was happy they were going, it was obvious that he should still be in bed, resting, recovering. Noah had tried to insist that Stiles rest and Stiles had glared at him until Noah backed down, it was obvious that this was something Stiles really wanted to do and nobody would be able to stop him. 

Stiles jerked awake when they were about an hour away from the museum, looking around at the other three asleep in the back seat and rubbing the sleep from his eyes before he stretched as best he could in Derek’s car and gave him an apologetic grin.

“Sorry dude, can’t be fun for you driving with nobody to talk to.” Stiles mumbled and Derek shrugged.

“Not really, I like the quiet sometimes.” He replied, not going to admit that he’d spent most of the drive shooting glances at Stiles’ sleeping form. 

“Fair enough.” Stiles stretched again, looking around him and taking in the sights for a minute before he licked his lips nervously. “You know, I wanted to talk to you about something.” 

“Okay?” Derek said uncertainly, Stiles sounded serious and Derek was worried he wasn’t going to like what Stiles was going to say.

“When the pack asked me before, when I said no, I still believed you’d left me to die, and, just, if you asked again, then I’d say yes.” Stiles said and Derek stared at him in bafflement as he tried to make sense of what Stiles had just said, Stiles must have registered the confusion on his face and he blushed slightly, ducking his gaze so he was staring at his own feet, “The pack asked before, about becoming your emissary, and I said no, because I didn’t want to bound to you, because you betrayed me, but, if you asked again, now I know the truth, if you wanted me as your emissary, even though I probably wouldn’t be that good, but, I’d try my best, and, yeah, well, I’d say yes. If you wanted that of course.” 

Derek was stunned. He’d never thought Stiles would offer to be his emissary, he never thought he’d get a chance to have that, the idea that he could have Stiles in any way made his wolf growl possessively and he fought back the urge to stop the car right now and bind them together as Alpha and emissary. He cleared his throat, turning slightly to look at Stiles before his gaze went back to the road.

“That’s a big decision for you to make.” He began, noticing Stiles rolling his eyes, “No, just, listen a second, yes, without a doubt I want you as my emissary, more than pretty much anything, but, it’s not a decision you should rush in to, you shouldn’t do it because you want to prove something, or because you want to feel like you’re helping or anything like that. And I’m not holding you to it, if you change your mind I won’t be mad at you. I just think, you should take some time, think about it, being bound to me, as my emissary, there’d be things I’d ask of you, like protecting the pack if a threat came, what if you want to go to college on the other side of the country? Being my emissary would restrict your choices and I don’t want to do that.” Derek explained and Stiles huffed out a laugh.

“Well, I’m not going to college on the other side of the country, in fact, I’m kind of, not planning to go at all?” He said uncertainly and Derek shot him an incredulous look. 

“But you’ve worked so hard to graduate!” 

“Yeah, because I didn’t want to be a high school dropout, but, I kind of have a plan for what I want to do instead, I mean, I haven’t mentioned it to anyone yet, because it might be kind of stupid, and, I’m not sure if it’s going to work, and, like, it probably won’t work, but, I think it’s what I want to do.” Stiles rambled. 

“Well, it’s good you know what you want to do.” Derek paused, “Would you be willing to share with me?” He asked and Stiles bit his bottom lip nervously. 

“I was thinking about,” He sighed heavily as if expecting Derek to laugh at his idea, “I like the self-defence classes, I like helping people learn how to defend themselves, so I was thinking about making it a more permanent thing, you know, like open up a studio and help people train there.” Stiles paused and when Derek didn’t say anything he continued, “But that’s not all, I also want to set up something to help supernaturals, like I did the other week, that if people need help and can’t handle it themselves, they can come to me. Because, I like helping people, I want to help people and I have the ability to help them. Like, a website or something? Where people can get in touch and ask for help? I mean, does that sound stupid? Do you think it would work?” Stiles asked and Derek took a moment to think about what he wanted to say. He knew that this was important to Stiles and he didn’t want to mess it up, he actually thought it was a great idea, not so much the running off to help anyone in trouble, but, the self-defence studio sounded good. He just thought it was important that Stiles didn’t close off all his options and the idea of not going to college after he’d worked so hard to graduate. 

“I think that you’ve obviously put a lot of thought into this…” Derek began and Stiles rolled his eyes, Derek grinned, “I’m not saying I think it’s a bad idea Stiles, in fact, I think the self-defence studio sounds great, I think you’d be wonderful at it, I mean, look at how well you’ve trained the pack, I know you can do it and I think it would be good, I don’t like the idea of you going off to help other people because I like having you around, where I know you are safe, but, if you want to do it, I won’t stop you.” Derek explained and Stiles blushed. 

“I feel like there’s a but coming?” Stiles asked.

“But,” Derek began with a grin on his lips when Stiles sighed, “I don’t think you should give up on college, I think not going to college limits your opportunities. I think you can do anything you set your mind to and I never want you to feel like you can’t do something because you don’t have the qualifications.” 

“Qualifications aren’t everything.” Stiles muttered and Derek nodded. 

“I know, I do, I mean, I didn’t go to college and I do okay for myself, but, you’re better than me, you can do better than me and, I want more for you.” Derek said, “But, at the end of the day, it’s your decision to make, and I’m sure we will all support you no matter what you want to do, but, you know, most of the pack are going to go to college, and, I don’t want you to feel like you’re missing out.” 

“Thanks Derek.” Stiles said after a few minutes of silence, “I mean, thanks for listening, thanks for the advice, I’ll think about it.” 

“Stiles, I mean it, I will support you no matter what, and, honestly, so long as you are happy, I don’t care what you are doing.” Derek said solemnly and Stiles turned in his seat to look at Derek, his eyes wide in genuine surprise and Derek avoided his gaze, concentrating instead on the road in front of him. “You should wake the others up, we aren’t far now.” 

After what had been a long debate when they first decided to go to LA, Peter had managed to convince them all that getting a hotel would be a good idea, Derek didn’t want to because he didn’t want to be away from his own territory for too long, but, the idea of driving another four hours home at night after what was no doubt going to be an emotional day made him cringe. Yeah, they could have got a flight there and back, but that just seemed ridiculous, so, instead they’d booked rooms at a more expensive hotel, because Peter insisted it was necessary the hotel have a spa so he could relax in the evening. Derek was glad they’d booked so far in advance, as it was they’d struggled to get enough rooms for all of them, and they’d still pretty much all be on different floors, it made Derek nervous, knowing his pack weren’t going to be right next door. Stiles had been the one to calm his nerves, telling him that they’d probably all end up in a puppy pile so he wasn’t sure why Derek had splashed out for all the rooms. 

They parked at the hotel and booked in, Derek was sharing with Peter, Chris and Stiles. It would be a bit of a squeeze, but, as the rest of the pack were in couples it made sense for the four people who were single to bunk together, they headed to their rooms with an agreement to meet back in the lobby in half an hour to go to the show. The rooms were very impressive, they’d got a room on the top floor and it looked out over most of the city, there was a large sofa on one side of the room next to a mini fridge which Peter went straight to and poured himself a drink. There were two double beds on the other side of the room, they looked comfortable but Derek eyed them uncertainly, he’d booked four singles, well, three singles and a sofa bed, not two doubles.

“I’ll crash on the sofa.” Chris said, dumping his bag on the sofa and making himself comfortable. 

“Sounds good to me.” Peter said, making his way over to the opposite bed where Derek had already dropped his bag. 

“Um.” Derek hesitated, Stiles was going to have to sleep in with Peter or Derek now, and while Derek knew he didn’t want Stiles sharing a bed with Peter the idea of forcing him to share a bed with Derek made him feel uncomfortable. Especially when he thought back to the last time the two of them were in a bed alone together, of Stiles drugged out of his mind for most of it, of how he’d glared at Derek with pure hatred the entire time, he really didn’t want a repeat of that. Besides, after today, Stiles might not even be speaking to him. 

“Up to you Stiles, you can crash in with me if you like.” Peter smirked and Stiles rolled his eyes in amusement, Peter winking at Derek behind Stiles’ back, Derek fighting the urge to growl at him. 

“No thanks, I know how much you sprawl given the chance and I’d rather not be kicked out of the bed in the middle of the night.” Stiles replied easily, dropping his bag on the same bed as Derek and then going into the bathroom. 

“You’re not subtle at all Peter.” Chris remarked as soon as the door shut behind Stiles and Peter laughed brightly. 

“Who said anything about being subtle?” Peter teased while Derek just felt like holding his head in his hands, why did he decide to do this? This was going to go horribly wrong. Stiles was going to hate him. The pack were going to hate him. God, what if he drove Stiles away? What if Stiles decided to leave and go to college across the country just because of Derek? What if he changed his mind about wanting to be Derek’s emissary? What if he never spoke to him again? 

“Relax Derek.” Peter mumbled. “It’s going to be fine.” 

“You say that, you’re not the one who is going to have to admit that they’ve been keeping this secret from the pack for years!” 

“What secret?” Chris asked and Peter shook his head.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” He paused and the bathroom door opened to reveal a slightly fresher looking Stiles.

“You guys ready to go?” He asked.

“Yeah, sure, yep, let’s go.” Derek said, moving towards the door, his feet feeling like he was walking through quick sand and his heart racing. By the time they got to the lobby Derek was almost certain he was going to have a panic attack, Cora must have sensed something was wrong with him as she moved towards him, gripping his hand tightly and reassuring him as best as she could. 

“Dude, you okay?” Stiles asked from the other side of him, “You’ve gone kind of pale?”

“No, I’m fine. Shall we,” He cleared his throat to hide the tremor in his voice, “Everyone ready to go?” He asked, he could see the pack members looking at him out of the corner of their eyes as they made their way out of the hotel, obviously all of them aware of his growing panic. 

The show was only a couple of blocks away so they made their way there easily enough, they rounded the corner and Derek nearly walked into Kira who had come to an abrupt stop in front of him. There was a queue that stretched the length of the block, people standing in line waiting to get into his show, Derek was a little overwhelmed at the sight. 

“Oh god, we’re never going to get in.” Stiles groaned, already moving towards the queue to join it when Derek gripped his elbow and steered him past the queue and along the pavement, the rest of the pack following after him in confusion. He could see the questioning glances from the people in the queue as he approached the security guards at the doors, he felt like an asshole, he wouldn’t usually push in like this, but, there was no way in hell he was going to miss his own show, not after they’d driven all the way here, he just hadn’t expected it to be so popular. 

“Sir you’ll have to go to the back of the line.” The first security guard said before Derek could even open his mouth and Derek glared at him, yeah, okay the guy was only doing his job, but, still, he didn’t like somebody ordering him around before he’d even spoken. 

“I’d like to speak to Jody please. Can one of you call her?” Derek said. 

“Like I said, you’ll have to go to the back of the line.” The security guard said again, his hand going to the taser at his belt, Derek didn’t miss the way that Stiles shifted just slightly, no doubt to touch one of his knives, ready to defend Derek at the slightest hint of trouble. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll call her myself.” Derek said, pulling out his phone and dialling Jody’s number.

“Derek! Great to hear from you, when are you getting here? I expected you before now?” Jody said loudly as soon as she answered the phone.

“Yeah, I’m outside. The security guards want me to go to the back of the line.” 

“Back of the line?!” Jody spluttered incredulously. “Hang on, I’ll be there in one minute.” She said before ending the call, Derek lowered his phone and waited patiently, the guards looking nervously at each other and then the pack, Stiles was still tense next to him and Derek put a hand on his arm to reassure him it was fine. 

“Derek? What’s going on?” Lydia asked and Derek raised a hand to tell her it was okay, to be patient.

“Derek!” Jody called out in greeting as she came out of the main doors, ignoring the heads that were turning in her direction, pushing past the security guards and pulling Derek into a hug with a wide smile on her face, “Fantastic, oh, I can’t believe you’ve come, I thought for sure you would have bottled it, and, oh, god, you’re Stiles, you are gorgeous, Jesus Christ, yes you are.” Jody smiled, reaching out to pinch Stiles’ cheeks who looked at Derek with terrified eyes, not sure if he should be attacking Jody or not, not sure who she was or how she knew him, not sure how he should react. Derek chuckled, putting a hand on Jody’s shoulder, effectively diverting her attention from Stiles who looked at Derek gratefully. 

“Can we go in?” He asked and Jody nodded, her excitement clear for them all to see, Stiles looked around, glad to see that the rest of the pack looked equally as confused, well, apart from his dad, Peter and Cora who actually looked amused at the other’s reactions. 

“Sure, yes, of course, come on in.” Jody agreed, glaring at the security guards when they moved as if to stop them, “If you value your jobs you won’t even think about it.” She said harshly and both of them backed off. 

Stiles could only stare at Jody in amazement as they were led through the main doors, much to the disgruntlement of several members of the crowd. He was almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in the museum, but, more importantly, the number of paintings there, it looked like Wolf must have been working on this show for years, there had to be well over thirty paintings in just the first room, Stiles knew he wasn’t going to find the time to be able to give each painting the attention it deserved. He could hear Jody and Derek talking nearby but his attention was wholly on the closest painting, he was almost in a trance as he walked towards it, it was one of a woman, she was crouching down to the ground, her face obscured by a curtain of dark hair but Stiles could see just the hint of red eyes staring back towards the viewer, teamed with the fact that she was naked and covered with smudges of dirt and he was left under no illusion that the woman in the painting was an Alpha werewolf. He stared in shock, he’d never, under any circumstances, imagined that Wolf the painter would know about werewolves. But here, right in front of him, was undeniable proof of that fact. He paled feeling suddenly sick with the knowledge, what if this was some kind of trap? What if Stiles had unknowingly led them into a trap? Into another’s wolf’s lair?

He was moving back towards where he’d left the others, one hand resting on the knife at the side of his jeans in case he had to use it, when a girl stopped right in front of him and stared at him like she was witnessing the second coming of Christ. 

“Oh my god, you’re him!” She said loudly, drawing attention to Stiles, his grip tightened just slightly and he could see the pack looking alarmed in his direction, “Oh my god, oh god, you are, you’re so beautiful.” The girl rambled and Stiles looked to the pack for help. 

“Do I know you?” He asked uncertainly. 

“Oh, no, sorry, god, no, I’m Kayleigh, and, you, well, you’re him.” She said excitedly. 

“You’re right, wow, you’re like even more perfect in real life.” Another girl chimed in from nearby and Stiles was feeling equally confused and annoyed. 

“I don’t know…”

“Do you know him? Have you met him? What’s he like? Is he gorgeous? Oh my god I bet he’s gorgeous.” Kayleigh continued and Stiles looked to the pack for help but they were all just standing there and looking at him with bemusement. 

“Right, well, I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Stiles started to say before Kayleigh gasped in shock. 

“You mean you haven’t seen… oh my god… you need to come see.” She said, grabbing hold of his hand and dragging him back the way she had come, Stiles fighting against every instinct that said to put her on her ass now before she could do any damage. He knew he couldn’t be in that much danger, there were too many civilians here, and, even if she did attack, Stiles had his knives, and his magic, and the pack weren’t far behind. “Excuse me, move out of the way, we need to get through.” Kayleigh said, pushing other people out of the way so that they could get through to the next room, Stiles could see more and more people staring at him and he couldn’t help the hint of warmth in his cheeks at their attention. 

Kayleigh pushed through the crowds until they could get to the paintings on the wall and Stiles came to an abrupt standstill, he was staring at a painting of his face, it had to be his face, right? That was definitely his face, except, he looked, he looked beautiful. He was younger, it was definitely painted before he had been taken, he still had his buzzcut, his eyes were light and full of hope and joy, there was a sarcastic smile on his lips and he looked relaxed, happy. Stiles stared at it, unable to believe that somebody could have painted him in such detail, it was, it was perfect, down to the very last mole, his mind was racing, his heart thudding way too loudly, Wolf had painted him, him! 

“Come on, there’s more.” Kayleigh said, dragging him from the first painting to the next one in the line. This was one of him in the arena, his chin tilted in defiance, his helmet hiding his face in the shadows, the collar obvious around his neck, the scars down his chest drawing his attention, the circular tattoos on his side, his sword dripping blood onto the sand below his bare feet. He looked dangerous, deadly and Stiles wanted to reach out and touch it because at the same time, he looked breath-taking. He didn’t even protest as Kayleigh dragged him away from that painting to the next one, one of him stood in the yard at home, his face tilted up to the moon, his eyes closed in relaxation, his feet still bare in the grass, the tattoos of the wolves appearing on his skin, Derek’s wolf being the clearest, standing to attention and growling at the viewer as if annoyed at them for viewing Stiles in this moment. 

His mind was latching onto an insane theory, because, it had to be insane, surely, there was no way that Derek could be… no, he had to be wrong, but, Peter said Derek had been a good artist when he was younger, before the fire, and Wolf, he’d only starting publishing his artwork in the last five years or so, so, the timeframe fit, but, Derek couldn’t, he, Stiles had to be wrong. 

He turned slightly, enough to see Derek with his back to Stiles, talking to the rest of the pack who were looking at the nearby paintings with a look of awe on their faces. Derek looked stressed, his shoulders were hunched and his hands were clenched tightly by his sides and Stiles shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind. Derek couldn’t be Wolf. Stiles would have figured it out. He would have known. 

He moved to the next painting, staring at it for only a few moments before he moved on to the next one until he’d made his way around most of the room. This room was full of paintings of Stiles, some of them had other members of the pack in, but, they all focused on Stiles, he was stood amongst a pack of wolves with knives in his hand, looking at the viewer with pure contempt, he was surrounded by wolves, involved in a puppy pile, a relaxed smile on his lips, there were ones of just his face, just his eyes, his eyes that were full of annoyance, of hatred, of relief, of love, his eyes from before he was taken, when he had hope and childish innocence, his eyes from when he first escaped, angry and hurt and scared and defensive, his eyes that were obviously more recent, where there was light returning to them, that there was still something dark and dangerous in them, but, there was equal joy and hope and relief. There were ones of him running, fighting, smiling, frowning, and, god, there was so much detail to them, he couldn’t deny that there had been serious dedication gone into these paintings. He thought back to how Derek would sometimes disappear for days at a time because of ‘work’. God, how could Stiles be so stupid? How could he not have figured it out?

He moved into the next room, the painting in front of him was clearly of Laura as an Alpha, she looked strong, brave, Derek’s wolf was slightly behind her, snarling just as dangerously and flashing blue eyes. It gave Stiles the confirmation he needed. Derek was Wolf. Jesus Christ, Derek was Wolf. Stiles was pretty sure he needed to sit down before he passed out. He moved to the nearest bench he could find, sitting down and taking in several shuddering breaths while he stared at the painting in front of him, one of the pack running through the preserve, their faces were all hidden but it was obvious to him who each one was, each of the wolves were easy to pick out, as was Danny with his hood up, Kira with her katana, Lydia, Allison and Melissa obscured by their hair, Chris with his gun raised and there was Stiles, in the thick of it, knives raised, hood up, running bare foot through the preserve, ready to attack and defend the pack. 

“So…” Derek said, sitting down on the bench next to Stiles, he sounded nervous but Stiles couldn’t turn to look at him yet, he didn’t know what to say to him. He could see the rest of the pack moving around the room, looking at the various paintings, he knew they were staying within earshot, staying within eyesight of their Alpha. 

“When did you tell them?” He asked quietly and he could practically feel Derek tense up next to him. 

“Your dad found out a few years ago. I told Peter and Cora when we planned the trip, when I showed them Laura’s photos, and, the others, they found out about half an hour ago when you got dragged across to look at the paintings.” Derek admitted.

Stiles nodded, feeling a little numb, he wasn’t sure how to react, wasn’t sure what Derek wanted him to say. Instead they sat in silence as Stiles tried to process the big reveal, he couldn’t make sense of why Derek had painted him, or why he’d done it so many times, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Derek cared about his pack. Peter had said that Stiles was Derek’s first beta, maybe, when Derek believed that Stiles had died, it had hit him hard, because it felt like the loss of his first beta, just like losing Laura, his Alpha, must have hurt him, and, before that, his family that he lost in the fire. Stiles wondered how many times he’d looked at their portraits, of them in their wolf forms and never realised he was looking at Derek’s family. 

“I’d forgotten that you can be so quiet sometimes.” Derek muttered almost twenty minutes later, he knew he needed to allow Stiles time to process, but, god, he needed to hear that Stiles didn’t hate him for lying to him. Stiles didn’t say anything, he was still staring at the painting in front of them and Derek was getting more agitated by the second, “Stiles, can you just talk to me or something? Because I’m kind of freaking out here.” 

“What do you want me to say Derek?” Stiles asked, not looking at him and Derek felt like his heart was shattering. 

“I’m not going to put words in your mouth Stiles, I just want to know what’s going on in your head right now?” He said, trying to stay calm and failing miserably. 

“I’m trying to figure out how I missed it. I mean, it’s obvious now, you would go to ‘work’ for days. You make a boat load of money, I mean, you paid six hundred thousand dollars for me for one night and you didn’t bat an eyelid. That’s like what? A couple of days work for you?” Stiles asked and Derek shrugged. 

“I would have paid that anyway, even if I only had the insurance money, I would have paid anything to be able to talk to you in private, and, if I didn’t have the money, I would have killed as many of them as I could to try and get you out of there.” Derek answered honestly and Stiles seemed to hunch in on himself, Derek knew he’d said the wrong thing but he didn’t know how to make it better. 

“Why did you paint me?” Stiles asked a few moments later and Derek blushed, refusing to look at Stiles and equally as glad that Stiles wasn’t looking at him right then. Several people were nearby, looking at the painting in front of them and Derek didn’t think it was a good place to talk about this, just because he was telling his pack didn’t mean he was ready to tell the rest of the world.

“Maybe we could go back to the hotel and talk about this?” He asked nervously and Stiles pursed his lips in annoyance. 

“I don’t think it’s that hard of a question.” Stiles muttered, “I’m just curious, that’s all, you don’t seem to have painted as many portraits of the other people in the pack, so did you do it because I’m your ‘first beta’ as Peter said? Or because you thought I was dead? Although some of those were definitely done recently.” He said, he wanted to know, he wanted to know why Derek had chosen to paint him and he needed to know here, where there was no chance of him doing anything stupid like asking Derek if he thought that Stiles was beautiful, he shook his head, no, he wasn’t allowed to think like that, Derek wasn’t interested in Stiles like that, it was because Stiles was his beta, that was the only reason. It had to be. Otherwise Stiles was going to drive himself insane.

“Does it really matter?” Derek sighed sounding defeated. 

“Yes. It matters to me. So, tell me.” 

“Stiles, can we please talk about this in private?” Derek almost pleaded. 

“Why? Why can’t you just tell me?” Stiles asked, his voice increased in volume as he demanded an answer and Derek noticed the looks they were getting from several onlookers, he avoided their gaze. 

“Stiles…”

“No, don’t ‘Stiles’ me, tell me Derek, I don’t think it’s a hard fucking question to answer, or are you just afraid of telling me anything? Do you still not trust me!? I thought we’d gone through this, I thought you trusted me! What else do I need to do to prove myself to you?” Stiles said heatedly, getting to his feet and staring at Derek, sounding hurt at the thought that Derek still didn’t trust him. Derek winced at Stiles’ words, that wasn’t true, he trusted Stiles, hell, he trusted Stiles more than he trusted himself, he couldn’t believe that Stiles would even doubt that. 

“Because I’m in love with you, I’ve been in love with you since before you were taken, you idiot!” Derek shouted, getting to his own feet and the gallery went quiet around them, Derek suddenly realising just how loudly he had spoken as every eye in the vicinity turned to look at them, Stiles was staring at him like he’d been rendered completely speechless and Derek didn’t know what the fuck to do, he’d made such an idiot out of himself. 

He hated that everyone was still staring at him, hated that the entire room seemed to have been stunned into silence, but, more than that, he hated that Stiles looked horrified by the prospect of Derek being in love with him. He turned on his heel, needing to get out of here before he did something completely ridiculous like try and convince Stiles to love him back. 

“Wait!” Stiles squeaked, finally finding his voice and grabbing hold of the back of Derek’s jacket to stop him leaving, moving in front of him to block his path and holding his hands up in a placating manner, “Dude, just wait, wait a second.” 

“What? Wait for you to figure out how to not hurt my feelings? Forget about it Stiles, it’s not important.” He said, moving to push past him, Stiles shoved a hand into his chest, forcing Derek to take a step backwards.

“It damn well is important you jackass!” Stiles shouted and it was Derek’s turn to be shocked into silence, “You just told me you’re in love with me, can you give me a minute to try and process that before you go being all dramatic and trying to literally flee the scene of the crime!?” Stiles commented and Derek blushed at his words because everyone was still staring at them, a lot of them with looks of amusement on their faces and he was sure he saw a few cameras videoing this, just what he needed, evidence of his humiliation up for the whole world to see. 

“I wasn’t trying to run-” He started

“Of course you freaking were.” Stiles replied, “Don’t lie to me, I know you Derek. Obviously not as well as you’d like us to know each other, but, still, I do know you. So don’t lie to me.” 

“If you’re going to turn this into some kind of joke-” 

“I’m not! I swear.” Stiles insisted, “Okay, so, just hear me out Der, please.” 

“Fine.” Derek pouted, fine, he’d listen to Stiles politely reject him and then he’d go back to the hotel and attempt to get drunk enough that he could forget this had ever happened. 

“Look, before, before I was, before that, I liked you, a lot, like, I thought that maybe there could have been something more between us, that we were working towards maybe being something more, and, then, well, then you know what happened, and, I’m not the same person I was, but, I still am, okay, that makes no sense, just, look I’m still the same person that I was then, and I still have the same, um, feelings I guess, but, I don’t, I’m not the same person in so many ways, I’m not as, as good, as I was, and, I don’t know how to do this, how to be this, because I don’t deserve good things Derek and you, you’re a good thing, you’re the best thing and, I, yeah, I don’t deserve that, and you deserve better and, I don’t want to mess things up between us, because we’re getting to be friends again, you know, now I know you didn’t betray me and I’ve stopped threatening to kill you all the time, and you can’t, you can’t love me because I’m not that person anymore and I don’t want to let you down, I don’t want you to be disappointed and I can’t…” Stiles tried to explain, his words trailing off into nothing when Derek took a step closer to him, looking at him with incredulous eyes. 

“Let me get this straight, you think that because you went through hell, that I would think less of you? You think I’m in love with the you of almost three years ago? You don’t think I’ve changed since then? You think that thinking you were dead didn’t break me? Because, Stiles, yeah, I thought a lot of you then, I loved you, I loved your hope and spirit and loyalty and selflessness and sarcasm and god, I loved so much about you. And then you were gone. You were dead. And thinking that, knowing that you were dead, it nearly destroyed me, and your dad, your dad was the one who pulled me together, made sure that I made your death mean something, that you died for a reason, that I wouldn’t let it be a waste, and then you came back, and yeah, you are harder, tougher, harsher sometimes, but, I still see that loyalty and selflessness, I still see your sarcastic sense of humour and the way you love your dad. You thought I’d left you for dead, you thought Scott had left you for dead and never, not once, did you shout or scream or kick the shit out of us, which we would have totally deserved. And you didn’t do that because you wanted to protect the others from that knowledge, you wanted to keep them in the dark even if it meant your own suffering. That’s the kind of person you are Stiles, the kind of person you have always been and yeah there are things about you that are different, but I love them too, I love everything about you Stiles, I love that you go running in your bare feet, I love that you eat food like it’s going out of fashion, I love when you run your hand across the back of your neck when you’re nervous, I’m crazy about you and I’d do anything for you and I want to take you on a date and if you still say no, if you still think you don’t deserve happiness, which is complete and utter bullshit by the way, then fine, but, please, give me a chance, give us a chance, please?” Derek pleaded, the other people in the gallery long since forgotten because all that mattered in that moment was that Stiles knew how much he meant to Derek. 

“Say yes!” Someone shouted from nearby and Stiles blushed brightly, ducking his gaze so that his eyes were focused on Derek’s chest. 

“I, um, yeah, okay.” Stiles muttered, clearing his throat and looking up into Derek’s eyes, “That sounds good. I’d, um, yes I’d like that.” Stiles nodded and Derek felt a wide grin break out on his face, Stiles’ eyes widening with relief at the sight. 

“About time!” They heard Peter shout from nearby amongst the loud clapping that was coming from the crowds around them. 

“Kiss him!” Someone else shouted and it was Derek’s turn to blush, shaking his head in bemusement and ready to tell the offender to go away when Stiles leaned forwards and brushed his lips gently against Derek’s. Derek froze for a moment, shocked at the move, before he leaned into the kiss just slightly, not enough to pressure Stiles for anything else, but, just enough to let him know it was reciprocated. 

Stiles pulled away a moment later with a light blush on his cheeks and Derek reached forward to take his hand in his own, feeling his wolf almost purring with happiness as just how perfect Stiles’ fingers felt entangled with his own. 

“So, you want to go talk about this in private now?” Derek asked and Stiles looked at him scandalised. 

“Dude, no, we’re at a gallery opening, surrounded by some fantastic fucking artwork. We’re going to stay and look at it until this place closes.” Stiles said in all seriousness. 

“You do realise I can just show you all this at home?” Derek whispered and Stiles grinned conspiratorially. 

“Yeah but here you get to hear about how awesome everyone else thinks it is, and, you probably need a boost to your ego.” Stiles replied equally as quietly, leading Derek towards one of the nearby pieces, the crowd going back to observing the paintings now that Derek and Stiles’ sudden declaration of love seemed to be over, “Hey, I just thought, Laura’s photos, were they of you? Is that why you got so freaked out by me mentioning them?” Stiles asked and Derek grinned, he was pretty sure his cheeks were going to shatter from the smiles on his face. 

“Yeah, there’s a few in there that would have shown you, shown anyone who saw them, they would have known my identity and I didn’t know that I wanted anyone to know at that point. Laura had known and she was dead. It had been our secret, I didn’t want to share it. Not at that point.” Derek confessed.

“I get it.” Stiles said quietly, “So, tell me about this one.” He said, turning to look at the painting in front of them, it was one of a wolf, Stiles wanted to ask who it was, it wasn’t any of the current pack, he knew that for definite, there was intelligence in her eyes and the more he studied the painting the more he knew it was a woman. 

“My mom.” Derek whispered before Stiles could ask and Stiles nodded, he’d thought as much, he stared at the painting with awe, Talia looked impressive, fearless, terrifying and yet at the same time, she looked warm, inviting, safe, like everything would be fine because she was there. Her eyes weren’t the same red that Laura’s had been, although there was still a hint of red in them, they were more of a warm amber, as if there was no threat and so she could relax, not be the Alpha, not be on guard, just take it easy, relax with her pack. 

“She’s beautiful.” Stiles whispered honestly. 

“Yeah, she was.” Derek said sadly, sounding pained for a moment before he cleared his throat, “She was, or at least, that’s how I remember her. Laura loved this painting.” Stiles glanced at Derek out of the corner of his eye, tightening the grip on his fingers just the slightest bit, letting Derek know that Stiles was there for him. “It’s okay, I can deal with it better now than I could before, I mean before, talking about them, thinking about them, it hurt, so much, almost too much, but, now, it’s easier now. I can think of them and the ache in my chest isn’t as bad as it was a few years ago. I’m, it’s, I’m not sure I’ll ever completely forgive myself, no matter how much time passes, but, I know, deep down, I know it wasn’t my fault, that Kate would have done the same thing one way or another.” 

“You’re right, she would have done. She was fucked up in the head.” Stiles agreed. 

“What about you?” Derek queried.

“What? Am I fucked in the head? Probably. At least a little bit.” Stiles teased and Derek shook his head in fondness. 

“No. I meant, do you still blame yourself for your mom’s death?” Derek asked kindly and Stiles tried his best to shrug casually but Derek could practically feel the sudden tension in his body. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that, I shouldn’t have asked.” 

“No, no, it’s fine.” Stiles said, letting out a slow breath, “I guess, I guess not really, sometimes yes, quite a lot of the time, but then I blame myself for a lot of stuff that maybe I shouldn’t. I’m hoping that time will help, that, you know, as I, um, heal, I’ll maybe feel a bit less guilty about it?” 

“You’ve nothing to feel guilty about…” Derek began and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“I feel like we could have an argument about this and end up going in circles. I know in my head that it’s not my fault, I know that, but, you know how hard it is, to know in your head and feel in your heart two completely different things.” Stiles shrugged. 

“Yeah I know. But, it will get easier Stiles, I don’t think it’ll ever go away, not completely, but, it will get easier. I promise you.” Derek reassured him and Stiles nodded, resting his head gently against Derek’s shoulder and Derek grinning, unable to believe that Stiles was going to go on a date with him, he wasn’t sure he’d ever deserve to be this lucky. 

They moved around the gallery viewing all the other paintings, Stiles asked him a thousand questions, some simple, uttered before Stiles had meant to, a faint blush on his cheeks as he grinned sheepishly at Derek. Some were more complicated, asking about Derek’s process, about where he worked and why he worked in the container instead of at the house.

“I guess because it was a secret?” Derek mused, “I mean, your dad found me there, so it wasn’t like it was hidden away, I just, I was keeping it secret for so long, when I first came back I was painting at the house, but then,” Derek blushed slightly at the memory and Stiles looked at him in curiosity, “Then you started coming over and you found Laura’s photos and I didn’t want you to know, I wasn’t sure I could trust…I wasn’t ready to share that with you, with anyone. So, I rented a container and started painting there instead.” 

“That makes sense.” Stiles nodded in agreement, smirking slightly at Derek’s confession but not drawing attention to it, “So, now that the pack know, do you think you’ll start painting at the house again?” 

“I guess, maybe? I hadn’t really thought about it, I hadn’t really thought much further than getting through today if I’m honest.” 

“Why were you worried about telling us? Did you think we’d hate you?” Stiles asked.

“I guess. There was a lot of things I was worried about, I guess I was worrying about nothing.” Derek grinned. 

“Yeah you were.” Stiles teased. They made their way through the gallery, the rest of the pack meeting up with them at different points throughout the day. Stiles was approached by several other people throughout the day, telling him he looked just like the man they’d seen in several of the paintings, Stiles laughing it off and waving them away with a faint blush on his cheeks and squeezing Derek’s hand in his own.

They found a restaurant a few blocks away from the gallery that could accommodate the entire pack and as soon as they were all sat down around the table every eye turned to Derek. 

“So, now the secret is out, are you planning on telling the rest of the world?” Lydia asked and Derek stared at her horrified. 

“No. Not a chance. I…you all deserved to know, but, I don’t want anyone else to know. I wanted you all to know, I didn’t want to keep this a secret from all of you any longer, I wanted you to know the truth, but, I don’t want everyone else to know. I don’t think I’ll ever want everyone else to know.” 

“Well, whatever you decide to do, we’ll respect your decision.” Aiden said solemnly, cutting across Jackson who looked ready to protest. 

By the time they got back to the hotel they were all exhausted, Chris collapsed onto the sofa bed and was snoring before Stiles had even managed to go to the bathroom. Stiles was a little worried it would be awkward being in bed with Derek now that they’d both admitted that their feelings for each other weren’t platonic, but he was worried for no reason. Peter was in his own bed when Stiles came out the bathroom and headed to the bed with Derek, he climbed in easily, stashing one of his knives under the pillow just in case of an emergency, and then turned on his side to look at Derek who was staring at him in wonderment. Stiles tried his best not to blush, but, it was kind of nice for Derek to be looking at him like he’d hung the moon. 

“I know that we’ve admitted that we like each other,” Stiles whispered awkwardly and Derek grinned, pulling him into a tight hug.

“We’re not doing anything like that Stiles, not tonight, not for a while, not until you’re ready, if you’re ready.” Derek reassured him and Stiles relaxed instantly, smiling when he felt Derek’s nose rubbing against his neck. 

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but, pretty much every experience for me has been kind of traumatic, it'll take time for me to not cringe at the thought of doing anything sexual, so, I hope that’s okay? That you don’t mind?” 

“Stiles, don’t be an idiot. I don’t mind and if I did mind I’d expect you to punch me for being an asshole. Besides, I’ve waited years to be able to have this with you, I didn’t think I’d ever get to have anything with you, so, this, this is good. I’m happy Stiles. Really happy. I hope you are too?” 

“Of course I am. It’ll just take some time to get used to it, you know, that you find me attractive, that you want to go out with me, because, yeah, sixteen-year-old me knew it wasn’t ever a possibility and it’s not like eighteen-year-old me knows it’s likely, despite having you tell me. Maybe you’re going to have to reassure me, probably a lot.” Stiles confessed and Derek rolled his eyes.

“Sixteen-year-old you must have been blind to not notice me staring at him every time we were in the same room and eighteen-year-old you is just as blind because I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since the moment I met you, you’ve always been there, your voice telling me what was right, what was wrong. Did anyone tell you about the witch that tried to seduce me?” Derek asked and Stiles shook his head, his eyes wide, “I’m not really sure on what her exact plan was if it had worked, but, she tried to convince me that I was in love with her, and, just when I was believing it, when I’d forgotten about the pack, about the fact your dad had just been bitten, I heard your voice, you told me to snap out of it, that she was mojo-ing me, and then, it was like a fog lifted, I remembered everything and I managed to get away from her and back to the pack. But you were the thing to snap me out it. You’ve been my anchor since almost the first day I met you, so, please believe me when I tell you that you mean the world to me Stiles.” 

“I believe you.” Stiles muttered softly, his voice full of love, “When I was first taken, when they held me in the house for that first month, you were the thing that kept me going, I could have broken so many times, I could have begged and cried and pleaded with them, but, every time I thought that I’d reached my limit, that I couldn’t take any more, I saw you standing next to me, I knew you weren’t there, not really, but you would stand next to me and sometimes you’d put your hand on my shoulder like you were reassuring me it would be okay, and your eyes were always glowing red, and you never said much, but, when you did speak, it was to tell me that I was strong, that I could survive this, that I would survive it, that you would come and that my dad needed me, I wasn’t allowed to quit. You were my anchor then.” Stiles admitted and Derek looked tearful.

“I’m sorry Stiles, I’m so sorry. If we’d known, if we’d had any idea that you weren’t dead…”

“Shush, I know, I know you would have done. I’m sorry for ever doubting you. I sometimes think about how different things would have been if I hadn’t doubted you, if I hadn’t believed them when they told me you’d abandoned me. You know, like, would I have escaped sooner? Would I have worked harder to get out of there? I think about how much time I wasted when I finally got out, about how long I was mad at you and Scott, about how I could have lost any relationship with either of you because I didn’t know the truth. But, I don’t think any of us could have done anything any differently, and, thinking about all the what if’s, it doesn’t make any difference, you didn’t know I was alive, I believed you’d abandoned me, knowing the truth now, it doesn’t change how things happened, but, it changes things for us now. It means I get to love you and not feel conflicted about it, because, before, how could I love someone who had betrayed me and left me for dead? But, now, now it’s okay, because you didn’t know.” Stiles explained, looking up at Derek who was grinning blindingly, “What?” 

“You know you just said that you love me?” Derek teased and Stiles blushed.

“Yeah, well, I do. I mean, yeah, I, I do. I’m just, I’m not sure, I’m worried about if I deserve this, if karma isn’t going to turn around and punch me in the face for daring to be happy, so, don’t get annoyed if maybe I’m not as good as expressing my emotions as I was before.”

“It’s fine Stiles. I get it. All that matters is that I love you and you love me and if that changes, if you aren’t happy, or we’re going too fast or too slow, or whatever else, just, talk to me?”

“I will do.” Stiles agreed, “Same goes for you.” 

“Agreed.” Derek grinned, placing a light kiss on Stiles’ lips before pulling backwards and squeezing his arms just a little tighter around Stiles. 

“Night Derek.” Stiles whispered. 

“Night Stiles.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last chapter for this fic. I hope those of you that have stuck it out this far aren't disappointed in the ending, although I'll understand if you are. I wanted to write more on this, take their relationship further, but it didn't feel right, not yet at least. 
> 
> I am planning on writing a sequel where a few familiar faces will return so if you don't hate me too much after this then look out for the sequel, (although it might be a few months before it appears on here!)
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me this far and I hope you enjoyed it!

Epilogue… 6 months later

“Hey Der!” Stiles grinned widely the moment he saw him, moving away from his position at the front of the studio and walking around to meet him, pulling him into a quick kiss before he snatched the cup of steaming coffee from Derek’s hands and gulped it down.

“What if I said that wasn’t for you?” Derek teased, nodding his head at a few of the regulars that were taking Stiles’ class. 

“I’ll fight you for it.” Stiles replied easily, threading his fingers through Derek’s own. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure?” 

“I just finished my latest piece and I was bored, Peter told me I was annoying him and to get out of the house, so, I figured I’d come across and see my favourite boyfriend before his next class.”

“Your favourite boyfriend? Really, I get that honour?” Stiles grinned and Derek laughed, grabbing his shoulder and turning Stiles to face him, making their kiss last a little longer this time, smiling against Stiles’ lips when he felt Stiles almost melt against him. 

“Definitely my favourite.” Derek grinned when he pulled away a moment later.

“Get a room!” Someone called from across the room and Derek recognised one of the regulars throwing them a shit eating grin. 

“I thought you liked a show!?” Stiles called back in jest before letting go of Derek’s hand and moving back to the front of the room. “Alright guys, that’s it for today. Great work, I’ll see some of you tomorrow and be sure to come and ask me if you have any questions about any of the work we’ve done today.” 

The next half an hour was filled with people approaching Stiles and asking him various questions, sometimes Stiles demonstrated a move they were discussing, Derek was happy to volunteer to help him. Stiles’ classes were always full, Stiles was often amazed by how popular they were but Derek didn’t doubt it for a moment, Stiles was a good teacher and he wanted to help people improve, it was no wonder everyone wanted to be a member in his classes. 

“Stiles,” Derek interrupted when Stiles started discussing the pros and cons of an aggressive knee kick, “I know you’re enjoying yourself, but, if you don’t leave now you’re going to be late.” Stiles glanced at his watch and cursed.

“Yep, you’re right, come on, you can walk me to my car.” Stiles said, hurrying to grab his bags and ushering the last of the students to the door. “So, have you seen Danny this morning? He mentioned that there’d been a couple of hits on the website?” Stiles asked as soon as he’d locked the door behind him. 

“Yeah, he said he’d talk to you about it at dinner tonight, he doesn’t think it’s anything urgent, it can wait until the weekend, but, he knows how busy you’ve been with your classes, so he wanted to wait until tonight to talk to you.” Derek supplied. 

“Okay, cool, crap, Erica’s text to say the professor was looking for me an hour ago.” Stiles said looking at his phone.

“I thought your classes didn’t start until two today?” Derek queried. “It is Wednesday, isn’t it?” 

“God I love how wrapped up you get in your paintings. Yes, sweetheart, it’s Wednesday, you didn’t lose any time this time around. I can’t wait to see it now it’s finished, although, personally, I thought it looked pretty awesome around one this morning when I told you to come to bed, but, no, you were all ‘I’ll be there in a minute’ and instead I ended up having to cuddle up to Scott and Kira because you’d forgotten all about me...” Stiles teased, laughing brightly when Derek mock growled and pulled him into a deep kiss. 

“I didn’t forget about you.” Derek growled when he finally let go of Stiles, “I just wanted to get it finished.”

“I know babe, I know. Anyway, I’m going to have to get going otherwise my professor is going to kick my ass, I’ll see you at home later?”

“Yeah, have fun.” Derek replied, hating to let go of Stiles but knowing he couldn’t dissuade him from ditching college for the afternoon, not that he really wanted him too of course.

“Dude, it’s a bachelor’s degree in criminology, there’s nothing fun about it.” Stiles laughed, climbing into his jeep and then pulling Derek into another kiss, “I’ve got to go, I love you.” He smiled against Derek’s lips when they finally broke apart, before turning the key in the ignition and tearing out of the car park and waving at Derek as he left.

Derek made his way back to his own car, mulling over his thoughts, playing with the small box in his pocket. A few days after they had returned from LA the pack had announced their college plans, the majority of them were attending Beacon Hills college, Lydia, Allison, Danny, Cora, Boyd and Kira had gone a little further away but only an hour’s trip out of town, they made the trip together and were religious at keeping in touch and letting him know if they were going to be late home for any reason. Somehow, miraculously, they’d managed to get their timetables to practically match so that none of them were hanging around for the others very long. Stiles had talked through his plans with his dad, and then, the rest of the pack, about how he wanted to open up a studio to train for self-defence and also set up some kind of way to help the supernatural world as The Kid if it was necessary, Danny was the one to suggest a website, it had taken him most of the summer to get it set up but it had been running effectively for the past few months with no issues.

Stiles had left town a few times to go and help with situations, not all of them involving killing, some of the time it was just misunderstandings between different supernatural creatures, and, with Stiles’ help, they’d managed to resolve their issues peacefully. Chris had been the one to suggest the criminology degree at the local college to Stiles, it was only three half days a week which he could schedule around his self-defence classes, and, it would leave his weekends free to help anyone who needed it, plus, when he graduated, he could help people within the law, human people, as well as supernatural people, and, well, Stiles didn’t need much convincing. 

Derek had moved his studio to the house, using one of the spare rooms to store all his paintings, sometimes he needed to be left alone and concentrate, but, he told everyone that he’d only shut the door when he needed the time alone, otherwise it was open and they could come in and talk to him, or just sit in there and read, or put the radio on or whatever. He’d actually found that he was doing some of his best work now that he wasn’t hiding it from the pack anymore, in fact, having them querying what he was painting every half an hour usually gave him some of his best inspirations. 

There were still attacks in Beacon Hills, he doubted they’d ever stop completely, but, they’d definitely lessened and Derek believed that the majority of that was down to Stiles’ reputation, once word got out that The Kid had become the emissary to the Hale Pack, and that he was also the mate of the Alpha, well, people tended to be a bit nervous around them. Of course, if they actually met Stiles their opinions usually changed, such as when the Dawson pack came over to congratulate Derek on his new emissary, they’d arrived and been understandably nervous when a few of them recognised Stiles from his time in the arenas. By the end of the day Stiles had put them completely at ease, laughing and joking with several of the younger members of the pack, Alpha Dawson actually commenting that Stiles was welcome to come and see them whenever he liked, Derek was certain the man hadn’t been joking when he said that it would be a battle to allow Stiles to return to Beacon Hills if he did. Derek had growled at his words and Stiles’ smile had dropped and his eyes had gone cold before he moved away from the Dawson pack and stood next to his own pack, their own growls echoing in his ears.

“Thank you for the offer Alpha Dawson, but, as you can see, I have a pack.” Stiles said coldly and the other Alpha gulped nervously before nodding, “Now, can I get anyone else a drink?” Stiles asked breaking the tension. The man had apologised to Derek and to Stiles a few minutes later and Stiles had forgiven him easily, dismissing the apology and telling him it wasn’t a big deal, they’d left a few hours later with an ally in each other, Stiles exchanging numbers with several of the younger members of the pack and laughing at an awful joke one of them had told. 

Derek had waited until the other pack were out of eyesight to grab hold of Stiles and rub against him, trying to get rid of the other scents that lingered on him even as Stiles laughed until there were tears in his eyes and he couldn’t breathe properly because he was laughing so hard. Derek had pulled him into a kiss then, one that started soft and gentle and became something more, something deeper and harder and yet more intimate and tender than anything he’d ever experienced before. They hadn’t broken apart until Noah had cleared his throat from nearby and then both of them had pulled back, blushing brightly but still holding on to each other’s hands for dear life.

All in all, life was pretty perfect, they hadn’t had sex yet, but that didn’t mean that they hadn’t done a lot of other stuff, Stiles was still nervous about things sometimes, but Derek always made sure he was happy with what they were doing, and that, if he wasn’t, they stopped immediately, that Stiles wouldn’t try and push through his discomfort just to make Derek happy. He had been very happy that he was the first person who got to give Stiles a blowjob, he’d been surprised by that, but, apparently, it wasn’t like Stiles’ enjoyment had been high on any priority lists, so, it had never happened. 

Derek was glad about that for plenty of reasons, mainly because it meant it was something he could offer Stiles without the thought of it being associated with painful memories. Needless to say that Stiles had enjoyed it, a lot. He’d convinced Derek to let him try it a few days later, and, after a lot of talking, Derek agreed, but only if Stiles was comfortable with it. It was pretty mind-blowing, slow and soft and tender and so opposite to everything that Derek had ever had before that it made him nearly cum within the first few moments. Stiles had cuddled up next to him afterwards, humming with contentment, the tattoo of Derek’s wolf howling with happiness on his chest and Derek agreeing wholeheartedly. 

He drove to the station next, knowing that Noah would be alone in his office at the moment and it would be the best time to talk to him. He tightened his fingers around the box in his pocket and gritted his teeth, logically he knew it was a bit old fashioned, but, still, it was important to him that he got Noah’s blessing. 

“Derek, what can I do for you this afternoon?” Noah greeted him warmly, getting out of his chair and pulling Derek into a hug, he must have been able to smell the nerves coming from his Alpha as he pulled back to look at him in confusion. “I’m assuming you have a reason for being here?”

“Yes sir.” Derek nodded and Noah shook his head fondly, it must be serious if Derek was referring to him as sir, he hadn’t done that in a long time. 

“Alright then Hale, what’s going on?” Noah said, leaning back on his desk and studying Derek, he didn’t seem hurt, and Derek would have told him if Stiles was hurt, so, he knew it couldn’t be anything too bad. 

“I, erm, well, um, I’m here to ask your permission, to ask Stiles, I want to ask Stiles to marry me and it would mean a lot to me if I had your blessing.” Derek managed to stammer out and Noah stared at him in shock, whatever he had been expecting it wasn’t this. 

“Derek, I’m surprised you even had to ask.” Noah said, resting a reassuring hand on Derek’s shoulder and looking him in the eyes, “You are like a son to me and I love you and respect you. You are also my Alpha…”

“No, that shouldn’t have anything to do with it, I want to marry Stiles and I want your blessing but I want it because you think I’m good enough for him, not because I’m your Alpha, not out of some messed up werewolf loyalty.” Derek said firmly and Noah smiled at him fondly.

“I respect you Derek, as my Alpha and as my friend. There is nobody in this world that I would trust more to care for Stiles than you. I know he can look after himself, I know he’s more dangerous than any of us could ever dream to be and he doesn’t have fangs or claws, so I don’t need to worry about you hurting him physically. And I know I don’t need to worry about you hurting him emotionally because I see the way you look at him, I see the way that you care about him in all the little things that you do for him, probably without even realising, so I know you love him Derek and I know you would do anything for him, I know you’d die for him if it came to it. So, yes, yes you have my blessing, yes, I approve, yes, I love both of you and I can’t wait for Stiles to find out.” Noah said grinning the entire time and Derek almost collapsed in relief.

“Thank you.” Derek sighed.

“You’ve nothing to thank me for Derek. Honestly, I’m surprised that you hadn’t already figured out that I approve of the two of you together, that you are good for each other. I mean, Stiles can sometimes be a bit rash in his decision making, you make him see other points of view and you, well, sometimes you’re a little overprotective and Stiles challenges you on that. You balance each other out, and, well, I couldn’t think of anyone else in the world that I would rather have as my son-in-law.” Noah said proudly and Derek blushed.

“Thanks Noah, honestly, it means a lot to me.” Derek explained and Noah pulled him into a tight hug.

“So, when are you planning on popping the question?” 

“Tonight? I was going to suggest going for a run after dinner, just the two of us. Head up towards the lake and just, um, propose?” Derek said nervously.

“That sounds lovely. I’m sure Stiles will think it’s perfect.” Noah smiled happily. 

Derek was on edge for the rest of the day, he knew that the others were picking up on it, hell, even Stiles was picking up on it, shooting Derek nervous glances all the way through dinner, but, he couldn’t help it, he felt so nervous he thought he was going to be sick and he knew that he was probably worrying over nothing, Stiles loved him, he knew that, there was no reason he might say no, but, still, he might say no, he might think Derek was pushing him into something he wasn’t ready for, he might tell Derek he was an asshole, god, he might dump him, Christ, what if he dumped him!? 

“Der, seriously, what’s wrong?” Stiles asked, Derek blinked, the rest of the pack had finished their meals and were talking loudly in the living room, Derek’s plate was still full and Stiles was crouched down next to his chair looking at Derek with wide fearful eyes. 

“Do you want to go for a run? Just the two of us?” He blurted out and Stiles stared at him in surprise. 

“Yeah, sure, if that’s what you want, sure.” Stiles said but there was still worry in his eyes. Derek stood up from the table abruptly, the chair scraping across the floor and sounding too loud in his over sensitive ears, he was almost certain he was going to throw up now, he clenched his hand tighter around the box in his pocket and moved towards the back door. “Oh, right now? Okay, okay.” Stiles said, kicking off his shoes and socks and following after Derek, looking disturbingly pale himself, Derek wanted to ask if he was okay, but he thought if he opened his mouth he might just blurt the proposal out. 

They ran in silence and whereas Derek felt his body began to relax as he slipped into an easy pace, Stiles seemed to grow tenser by the minute next to him, they ran for at least half an hour, Stiles’ entire focus seemed to be on the path in front of them even though Derek knew he could probably run it with his eyes closed and not smash into anything. Finally, the lake came into view and Derek felt suddenly more terrified than he had been before they’d gone on this run, he didn’t have to do this, he could still back out and Stiles wouldn’t ever have to know and then he wouldn’t have to worry that Stiles would dump him. But, the thought that he could say yes, that they could get married, well, it was enough to encourage him to do this. 

“So, I figure you want to talk to me in private?” Stiles asked, he had his back to Derek, moving towards the lake and his shoulders were drawn up, hunched around his shoulders, like he was bracing himself for an attack and there was nothing he could do to stop the punch from coming. 

“Yeah, yeah I did.” Derek said nervously, pulling the box from his pocket and hesitating for a moment because he wasn’t sure how to do this. 

“Okay.” Stiles nodded but he still didn’t turn around and Derek moved just enough to get a side profile of him, his head tipped up to the sky, his skin pale in the moonlight, his eyes closed, scrunched up as if he was in pain, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

“Stiles? Stiles what’s wrong?” Derek asked, sudden concern rushing through him, because, Jesus Christ, Stiles was shaking in place, looking like he was on the edge of falling apart, what if he was ill? What if he was poorly and Derek had dragged him out into the preserve in the dark for his own selfish reasons?

“Seriously?” Stiles scoffed sarcastically. “You don’t speak to me all night, it’s obvious to everyone that you’re doing some serious thinking over something, and that it’s not good news, you pretty much tell me to come for a run alone which I can only assume is because you don’t want anyone else to hear, and, god, how could I be so stupid?” Stiles muttered in disgust. “So, I get it, you don’t need to explain the reasoning, I get it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, so please don’t pretend you care how I’m feeling right now, I mean, I know you care, but, you don’t care like I want you to, so, okay, I get it. I think I’m going to go for a run. I’ll come back to the house later.” Stiles said, already turning on his heel and moving away from Derek.

“Wait! Stiles wait!” Derek said, grabbing onto his wrist and trying to stop him from leaving. Stiles kicked backwards, his heel connecting with Derek’s knee solidly and dropping him to the ground. “Damn it!” Derek cursed, grabbing Stiles’ ankle and pulling him down to the ground with him. They rolled around for a minute or two, each of them trying to get the upper hand until finally Derek managed to pin Stiles below him. “You idiot!” Derek said, opening his hand so that Stiles could see the box he was holding.

“What’s that?” Stiles said suspiciously and Derek moved slowly, opening the box and showing Stiles the plain silver band that he’d picked out. 

“This is me asking you to marry me.” Derek said and Stiles’ mouth dropped open, his eyes going wide with surprise as he looked from Derek to the ring a few times. 

“But, but you brought me out here alone and you didn’t talk at all…” 

“Because I’ve been obsessing over what I was going to say and then I was convincing myself that you were going to say no and dump me. Excuse me for being a little nervous.” 

“But…what? I thought you were dumping me!”

“Only you would think I was fucking dumping you when I’m trying to propose. Stiles, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Why the hell would I dump you? You’re the best person in my life Stiles, I want to be with you, only you, I don’t ever want to be without you. I won’t ever be without you, not if it’s my choice.” 

“I…so you…wait...”

“Stiles, will you marry me?” Derek said seriously and Stiles’ mouth opened and closed uselessly a few times before he nodded, breaking out into a huge smile and leaning up to kiss Derek. “Is that a yes?”

“It’s a yes you idiot.” Stiles mumbled between kisses and Derek grinned, kissing him back quickly before sliding the ring onto his finger, “I mean, it’s nothing special, but, until we actually get married, I wanted people to know that you’re spoken for.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you.” Stiles said, pulling Derek into another kiss. They managed to make it back to the house eventually, but it was hours later after lots of muttered ‘I love you’ and plenty of kisses, the pack was still up and Derek knew that Noah would have told them all about Derek’s plan as soon as they were out of the house. 

“So? Are we celebrating?” Lydia asked as soon as the door opened and Stiles grinned happily at Derek. 

“Yeah I guess we are.” Stiles smiled, laughing when Scott flung himself at Stiles, pulling him into a hug.

“Congratulations buddy, I’m so happy for you guys.” Scott said, his eyes filling with tears as he looked at Stiles, “Honestly, I’m just, I’m so fucking happy for you. You deserve this. You deserve so much happiness Stiles. This couldn’t happen to a better person.”

“I hope you realise you’re letting me plan the entire thing.” Lydia said primly as she pulled both of them into a hug and Jackson rolled his eyes behind her. 

They headed to bed after a lot of hugs and congratulations, kissing softly and slowly in the privacy of their own room. For the first time Stiles believed that he really did deserve to be happy, that he was home and safe and with the man he loved, the man he was going to marry. Scott’s words echoed in his mind, he deserved this, he was allowed this, he was happy and all was okay in the world. 

He closed his eyes and went to sleep, dreams filled with thoughts of Derek, of the pack, of his home, of his family.


End file.
